After a century, the Andhra Cricket Association awards Nitish Kumar Reddy ₹25 lakh for the fourth Test match between India and Australia.

On the third day of the Boxing Day Test at MCG, the youthful batsman led India to 358 for nine with a tenacious unbroken 105 runs.

The Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) announced a ₹25 lakh cash prize for India's fast all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy just hours after he crushed his first century against Australia in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Saturday.

On the third day at MCG, the youthful batsman led India to 358 for nine with a tenacious unbroken 105 runs.

With this accomplishment, he also became the highest scorer and the third youngest Indian to reach a century on Australian soil, behind only Sachin Tendulkar and Rishabh Pant.

At 21 years and 216 days, the Andhra Pradesh all-rounder became the third-youngest Indian player to reach a Test century for the first time in Australia. The only two younger Indian players to reach their first hundreds in Australia are Sachin Tendulkar (18 years and 256 days in 1992) and Rishabh Pant (21 years and 92 days, 2019).

"For the Andhra Cricket Association, today is a lucky day and the happiest time of year. The selection of an Andhra lad for the Test and international T20 formats makes us very thrilled. Nitish Kumar Reddy is receiving ₹25 lakh in prize money as an honor on behalf of the Andhra Cricket Association, according to ACA President Kesineni Sivanath, who was quoted by NDTV.

Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar (50 off 162 balls) formed an important 127-run stand for the ninth wicket.

Cricketing great Sunil Gavaskar called Reddy's performance one of the best Test knocks in India's Test history and commended the young Andhra Pradesh batsman for his outstanding century.

The response of Scott Boland
In response to Reddy's forceful knock, Bolland stated, "Yeah, obviously he's playing really nicely," in response to a PTI question following the day's play. It's a lower-order player coming in down the center, but he's attempting to re-impose some pressure on us. He's also playing well.

"He performed incredibly well. He's been a young Indian player who has performed admirably at hitting the ball. He appears to have almost every shot in the book," he continued.