The booing had been reserved for Virat Kohli and on Saturday even the die-hard Australians found a new hero in Nitish Kumar Reddy.

His dad was crying in the stands but there were several other emotional faces at the MCG and maybe in the Indian dugout too.

Reddy slammed Scott Boland for a boundary after remaining stranded on 99 as Mohammed Siraj played out the remaining three balls of Pat Cummins’ over following Jasprit Bumrah’s dismissal.

Even the Australians were convinced that the 21-year-old had taken early steps to stardom as Boland conceded later.

“Yeah, obviously he’s playing really nicely. Coming in down the middle, it’s a lower-order, but he’s sort of trying to put the pressure back on us. And he’s playing nicely,” Boland said at the news conference.

“He played really well. He’s been a young guy from India who’s come through and strikes the ball really well. It looks like he’s got pretty much every shot in the book.”

Boland first had a glimpse of Reddy during the ‘A’ game and day-night match between India and the PM XI.

“I played the ‘A’ game against him, the PM’s game and then a couple of Tests.
You see he can score all around the ground.

“He’s obviously a very nice player and does well in the IPL and he’s doing well here in Australian conditions as well,” he said.

Calls for promoting Reddy in the batting order are sure to grow after this knock.

Washington Sundar too was ecstatic for his success. “It’s a celebration. He’s killed it, honestly,” Sundar said at the end of the day’s play. “I’m sure he’s got many more up his sleeve and it’s just a matter of him getting many more hundreds.”

“I’m sure this will be remembered forever,” Sundar said. “One thing about Nitish is, no matter what he is doing, on the field off the field, he’s going to give his 120 per cent. That’s his approach to life not just cricket.

“I saw him quite closely during the IPL as well. His work ethic and the things that he would do before every game, around games, was something very, very pleasing for all of us to watch and we knew something very special was going to come around the corner.”