Washington Sundar on Nitish Kumar Reddy: India off-spin all-rounder Washington Sundar praised Nitish Kumar Reddy for scoring a memorable maiden Test century in the Boxing Day Test against Australia, saying the way the seam-bowling all-rounder did his job was brilliant. In the third day’s play, Reddy emerged as the hero for India by scoring 105 not out – a brilliant maiden Test century, as the visitors posted 358/9 in 116 overs, trailing Australia by 116 runs.
In front of his father Mutyala and other family members, Reddy hit a lofted on-drive off Scott Boland and scored his maiden Test century in 171 balls. “He is very strong mentally. I have known him for many years. The way he did his job today is amazing,” Sundar said in the post-day press conference on Saturday.
Sundar further said, “He picked those phases of the game where he felt we could hit some boundaries. He also knew that we needed to get some balls through when the situation was a bit challenging for us. An incredible century, it will be talked about for a very long time.”
Sundar further said about Nitish, “One thing about him, no matter what he is doing – on the field or off the field – he is going to give his 120 per cent. It is his approach towards life, not just cricket. Obviously, I have seen him very closely during the IPL, his way of working, whatever he does during the game, was very enjoyable for all of us, we knew that. It is going to happen.”
Reddy and Sundar were brought together when India were at 221/7 in the first session and the duo put on a decisive 127-run partnership for the eighth wicket. He was also helped by the fact that the pitch was flat. Reddy was brilliant in his strokes – both on the front and back foot, while solid in defence, flair, application and composure, Sundar was not far behind as he patiently scored a half-century and became the perfect second batsman in a crucial partnership for India .
Speaking at the press conference, Sundar spoke about the plan, saying, “Gauti bhai and all the support staff kept believing in me, kept telling me what I was capable of doing, especially at this level, in this format. It was really very important for me.” It makes me believe that I can do something special for the Indian team.”
Sundar said, “They keep telling us to fight no matter what and I think it’s something that is ingrained in us and no matter what situation we are in, we will fight no matter what. If I could say anything else It would have been even better if we had scored runs and not lost our wickets, but I think we are in a good position today.”
Asked what his discussions were with Reddy during the partnership, Sundar said they were focused on dealing with dangerous spells, especially when the second new ball was introduced midway through the session.
Sundar said, “I think it is always challenging to play against Australia in Australia, no matter what. The challenges can be of different types, but we have to be prepared to deal with those challenging situations and I just I was thinking about the things that I needed to do so that I could play some important spells. Once we went through those spells, it became very easy to score runs.”
With two days left in the match, Sundar concluded by saying that India have given themselves a strong chance of not only avoiding defeat at the MCG but also registering a win.
Sundar further said, “I still think this wicket has something for the bowlers. So far the sky has been cloudy for most of the game. If we can bowl in the right areas, if we can convert our chances. So I am sure we will be able to bowl them out for 150 runs and the fifth day will be around that.”
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