Nitish Reddy rewarded the Indian management’s faith in him during a difficult selection call for the MCG Test with a display of patience and tenacity on the third afternoon. The allrounder went in at 191/6 and set a record eighth-wicket partnership of 127 runs at the MCG with Washington Sundar to help India out of their batting slump. When an early tea break arrived owing to poor lighting, India had reduced their deficit to 116.
Through their cooperation, which has now grown to 47.5 overs, both Nitish and Washington demonstrated that the circumstances were stronger allies for the batters. With his 162-ball stay for 50 runs, Washington provided an excellent foil to Nitish, who achieved his first Test century.
Nitish scored 105 runs at a rapid pace of 59.70, although the youthful hitter took little chances. He even avoided the old pitfall of hitting the ramp shot against short deliveries from Pat Cummins, which had cost him his wicket in Adelaide. He even caught a short ball in his glove but did not take it on. He radiated confidence from the outset, playing his drives against the quicks and letting Nathan Lyon lead the assault. There was only one brazen moment in an otherwise controlled performance, when he attempted to reverse sweep pacemaker Scott Boland.
The morning’s exciting events drew them together for a session of comfortable batting. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, who are not afraid to stitch large partnerships themselves, were removed by Boland and Lyon, leaving India seven down and on the verge of losing a substantial first-inning advantage. Pant was attempting to shuffle over and lap Boland over the leg side, but instead top-edged the ball to Lyon at third man.
Lyon dismissed Jadeja, who had been absolutely reserved in his demeanour, with a trick from his own book. The off-spinner pinged Jadeja on the backfoot with his lengths, then snuck a faster one at 88kmph to trap him leg before. From 221/7 in the 65th over, Australia’s dreams of a fast victory were crushed. For the first time in eight Tests, India pushed their opponents to take the second new ball in their first innings thanks to the still undefeated eighth-wicket partnership.
Brief scores: India 358/9 (Nitish Reddy 105*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 82; Scott Boland 3-49) behind Australia 474 (Steve Smith 140, Marnus Labuschagne 72; Jasprit Bumrah 4-99) by 148 runs.