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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