Nitish Kumar Reddy broke new records with his MCG century

Nitish Kumar Reddy became the third-youngest centurion for India in Australia, scoring a breathtaking, unbeaten 105 to bring India back into the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

Batting at No.8 after Akash Deep went up as a nighwatchman, Nitish combined with Washington Sundar to put on a 127-run stand for the eighth wicket. It is now the first time an India batter has hit a century from No.8 or lower in Australia.

Sachin Tendulkar remains the youngest Test centurion for India in Australia, having scored 114 in the 1992 Perth Test. In 2019, Rishabh Pant was 20 when he scored his Sydney ton. Reddy, who made his Test debut in this series itself, is now the leading run-getter for India from the four Tests so far.

Full list: India batters to score away tons before turning 22

Player Runs Age Opposition Year
Sachin Tendulkar 119* 17y 107d v England 1990
Sachin Tendulkar 148* 18y 253d v Australia 1992
Sachin Tendulkar 114 18y 283d v Australia 1992
Sachin Tendulkar 111 19y 216d v South Africa 1992
Sachin Tendulkar 104* 20y 94d v Sri Lanka 1993
Abbas Ali Baig 112 20y 126d v England 1959
Madhav Apte 163* 20y 137d v West Indies 1953
Ajay Ratra 115* 20y 148d v West Indies 2002
Ravi Shastri 128 20y 248d v Pakistan 1983
Vijay Manjrekar 133 20y 253d v England 1952
Ravi Shastri 102 20y 336d v West Indies 1983
Rishabh Pant 114 20y 338d v England 2018
Rishabh Pant 159* 21y 91d v Australia 2019
Vijay Manjrekar 118 21y 183d v West Indies 1953
Vinod Kambli 125 21y 190d v Sri Lanka 1993
Yashasvi Jaiswal 171 21y 196d v West Indies 2023
Vinod Kambli 120 21y 198d v Sri Lanka 1993
Nitish Kumar Reddy 105* 21y 214d v Australia 2024
S Mushtaq Ali 112 21y 221d v England 1936
Sunil Gavaskar 116 21y 252d v West Indies 1971
Sunil Gavaskar 117* 21y 265d v West Indies 1971
Sunil Gavaskar 124 21y 277d v West Indies 1971
Sunil Gavaskar 220 21y 277d v West Indies 1971
Dinesh Karthik 129 21y 358d v Bangladesh 2007

This is also the fourth-highest partnership for the eighth wicket or lower by an India pair away from home, and the second-best for the eighth wicket in Australia, behind Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh's 2008 Sydney effort.

Pair Wicket Runs Opposition Ground Year
Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath 8 144 v New Zealand Hamilton 1999
Zaheer Khan, Sachin Tendulkar 10 133 v Bangladesh Dhaka 2004
Harbhajan Singh, Sachin Tendulkar 8 129 v Australia Sydney 2008
Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar 8 127 v Australia Melbourne 2024
EAS Prasanna, Dilip Sardesai 9 122 v West Indies Kingston 1971

Reddy is only the fourth Indian to score a Test century at No.8 or lower in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) after Kapil Dev (1990 Oval Test), Anil Kumble (2007 Oval Test) and Ajit Agarkar (2002 Lord's Test).

Overall, Nitish Reddy is the youngest ever visiting batter to score a century in Australia at No.8 or lower. He stands second on the list of youngest batters to score an away century from that low down, behind current India selector Ajay Ratra, whose 2002 Antigua century came at the age of 20.

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