India vs Australia Highlights, 4th Test Day 3: Nitish Kumar Reddy scores 100, IND 358/9 at Stumps in Melbourne

Nitish Kumar Reddy on Saturday scored his first-ever international century on Day three of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Reddy guided the ball to straight down the ground to complete the maiden Test century.

Coming into bat in a pressure situation, Nitish Kumar Reddy played an innings of grit and determination as he reached the three-figure mark in 171  balls. Developing a partnership of over a hundred runs with Washington Sundar in the middle, India made a stand to avoid the follow-on as they were seven wickets down, and also drastically bringing down Australia’s lead. (Read more)

NRMA INSURANCE BOXING DAY TEST
Day 3 crowd is 83,073. This is the largest Day 3 crowd ever for a Boxing Day Test.
It is also the largest Day 3 crowd for an MCG Test since January 1937 (87,798 - Bradman 56* at stumps).
Total attendance so far is 255,462.
Record total attendance for a Boxing Day Test is 271,865 v England in 2013.

India’s ICC World Test Championship final qualification chances seem to grow slimmer as they feature in the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Falling behind in the Boxing Day Test by a considerable margin within the first two days, it is highly improbably for India to fashion a win from the current position. The other two remaining outcomes will mean India’s WTC 2025 final chances will hit a major roadblock before the New Year’s Test in Sydney, starting January 3. (Read more)

Nitish Kumar Reddy is the fourth youngest Indian centurian in Australia. 

He also became the second youngest player to make a ton in Boxing Day Test

The play has been stopped here due to bad light. Excellent innings from Nitish he has now time to cherish and reflect. As per the game situation, India is still behind but not as much as Australia has hoped for. Pat Cummins has had a torrid time since the Lunch Break as captain as well. Bowling from Australia looked a bit tame. If the play resumes we will update.

Well, that is a special player doing special things. What an innings this has been from Nitish not only it was about him playing attacking shots but also about him holding his nerve when needed. Time and again in this series he has been given the task of playing with the tail and he delivered well. He will cherish this innings for a long long time to come.

Nitish Kumar Reddy’s childhood coach Kumar Swamy has known the allrounder since he was six. And for him, the story of Nitish’s success is down to the work done by his father Mutyala Reddy as much as the cricketer himself. “Everyone wants to be a hero in their cinema but when it comes to Nitish’s story it is Mutyala who is the hero,” he said. “It is his father’s hard work which fuels Nitish to achieve something in life. He witnessed everything his father had undergone. Especially there was a lot of criticism even from his close family members about him not having a job and wasting his time, but the father never gave up.” (Read more from Tanishq Vaddi)

Washington Sundar departs and that's the end of the partnership. It is Nathan Lyon who gets the breakthrough. Excellent innings from Sundar. Meanwhile Nitish at the other end is stuck at 97. Jasprit Bumrah has walked into the middle it is going to be an interesting passage of play as Nitish Reddy is denying the singles as he doesn't trust Bumrah's ability to see through will he play shots? will be interesting to see. Mohammed Siraj is the next one to follow who is not a competent bat either. This is getting tense out here. As we update Nitish gets two and goes to 99.

These are the kind of moments when Australia will miss Cameron Green. The bowlers did their bit and bowled their spells however, given the flatness of the wicket there is always a worry that a partnership could have been built at any point in the innings and it is happening. What a bowler short does is the team eventually runs out of ideas and creativity on how to pick wickets and additionally even if one bowler has an off day like Starc is having the entire thing falls apart. The bowling unit once again with the ball becoming old and nothing on offer from the pitch is at the mercy of batters making mistakes.

Washington Sundar gets to his 50 here. What a supporting role he has played this is brilliant from India. The momentum of this game is completely flipped here. How fickle Test cricket is. Australia this morning coming into the field would have come thinking to bundle out India's bat for a bit and put India into bat again but the last session and this one so far have completely changed the complexion of the game. Draw now becomes a possibility and so is India winning. What this partnership also does is allow bowlers to have enough rest and they do come back fresh when they come out to bowl.

The sun is out now the clouds have gone off. This partnership between Sundar and Nitish has definitely taken a back Australia here. This has been the hallmark of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in recent years. Just when it felt like one team had completely taken over the other team claws back into the game and the onus is now on Australia to keep their heads and come up with a plan. Also, they need to remember that it is still an excellent batting track and once India cuts down that deficit under 100 the advantage of Australia will get increasingly nullified. 

Washington Sundar continues to look solid even after the break. The Indian spinner though is considered a modern T20 player and has a very orthodox and old-school Test match technique. He is prepared to leave the ball and spend time at the crease. We have seen this in Perth too though he has scored just 29 runs he did spend time and play some orthodox shots and most importantly he can hang in with players if someone from the other end is going at the bowling. Shardul Thakur was in Gabba and Nitish Reddy was today in Melbourne.

Mitchell Starc is looking better after the break. He was looking in a bit of discomfort before the break however, in the break he seems to have got a bit of treatment and at least accuracy he is getting it spot on. Nitish Reddy seems to be a bit in two minds after the break trying to poke at deliveries which he left flawlessly. The batters need to get back their concentration here for the Indians. They have cut off the lead significantly however, there is still a long way to go for India in this game. The forecast is decent for the next couple of days hence the only India has a chance in this game is to keep chipping away at that total.

NRMA Insurance Boxing Day Test
AUS v IND - MCG (Day 3)

Updated session times:

Session 3: 4:00pm - 6:16pm

Play can be further extended for an additional 30 minutes to achieve minimum required overs. 

There are 39 overs remaining in the days play.

We are underway here. The break would have done a world of good to Australians as it seemed just before the break like they were losing a bit of momentum and from per batting perspective it is a nightmare in terms of concentration. We also had a slight bight of drizzle during the break which made the outfield greasy every time the ball goes onto the outfield it will get wet and the seam will get hard to grip which will in turn result in making the ball grip for the bowlers to swing or make it spin. So it can cut both ways does that break we just have to see how takes advantage of it.

Nitish Kumar Reddy’s childhood coach Kumar Swamy has known the allrounder since he was six. And for him, the story of Nitish’s success is down to the work done by his father Mutyala Reddy as much as the cricketer himself. “Everyone wants to be a hero in their cinema but when it comes to Nitish’s story it is Mutyala who is the hero,” he said. “It is his father’s hard work which fuels Nitish to achieve something in life. He witnessed everything his father had undergone. Especially there was a lot of criticism even from his close family members about him not having a job and wasting his time, but the father never gave up.” (Read more from Tanishq Vaddi)

NRMA Insurance Boxing Day Test
AUS v IND - MCG (Day 3)

If there is no further rain, play is scheduled to resume at 4:00pm.

Updated playing times to follow.

Before getting into the run-out that dramatically turned the second day’s play, and potentially that of the Test series, it’s perhaps apt to freeze the action when the clock struck 5:28 pm. Just to get in the mood at the MCG.

Australia’s DRS review of a lbw appeal against Yashasvi Jaiswal had been just negated by the TV umpire, and the sound that erupted at the G was thunderous and cacophonically Indian. The loudest sound was heard the whole day until then. (Read more from Sriram Veera)

India’s ICC World Test Championship final qualification chances seem to grow slimmer as they feature in the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Falling behind in the Boxing Day Test by a considerable margin within the first two days, it is highly improbably for India to fashion a win from the current position. The other two remaining outcomes will mean India’s WTC 2025 final chances will hit a major roadblock before the New Year’s Test in Sydney, starting January 3. (Read more)

Nitish Kumar Reddy reaching his maiden Test half-century with a cracking cover drive of left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc on Day three of Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. As the ball trickled down to the boundary rope, the all-rounder from Visakhapatnam pulled out Allu Arjun’s ‘Pushpa Raj’ move to celebrate the feat. (Read more)

Rohit Sharma won't be the first touring captain to come to Australia and feel the heat.

Misbah-ul-Haq averaged 12 in 2016/17 and never played again for Pakistan.

Jimmy Adams averaged 18 across five agonising matches at the beginning of the 21st century, never to be seen for the West Indies again.

And captaincy became too much for both Andrew Flintoff in 2006/07 and Joe Root in 2017/18 on ill-fated Ashes tours.

Well the players have walked off here due to bad light. We will take early Tea and hope that the light improves. It is an excellent counter punch from India considering where they were after the morning session. Hopefully, we will have the game restarted soon do stay with us for all the live updates.

The momentum is swinging here. Australia have to be extremely cautious it is one of those things where teams just get rattled and do not understand what to do. The tactics Australia used after the break clearly showed they were looking to wrap this up quickly and now that this partnership has gone over 100 runs they are looking a bit shell-shocked. Poor deliveries are coming from time to time mis-fields are happening and scoring has become a lot easier now. The Australian lead is depleting as each over passes by. Pat Cummins need to come up with a different tactic here. We are 15 minutes away from Tea break which will be time to reflect and regroup for them.

Mitch Starc is having some problem with his back. The physio is out there with him - he is at fine-leg position. And constantly stretching and rubbing his back. And now he is a bit late in reacting to the Reddy shot and dives, but unable to reach.

Mitchell Starc has been brought into the attack here after good three Tests in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane he is having one of those indifferent games where he just keeps leaking runs with limited returns to show for it. If at all he had a chance to strike it was with the second new ball however, his pace was done and he is holding his back while walking back to his run-up mark which is an indication that something is not ideal with him at this point in time. Even at the start of this spell, he delivered a gentle loosner to Sundar which slammed for a boundary over the point region.

Boland and Lyon are operating here in the middle at the moment and both of them are looking ineffective at this point. It just seems like Australia has missed the trick post-lunch session. It just felt like Cummins over bowl the bumpers while the conditions were helpful to pitch the ball and get swing out of it but it just seems like they have got carried away with the batting numbers and situation of the game instead of the skill set of the batters. Scott Boland too surprisingly just seems to be a little slow on his pace as well and the only thing Boland does is bowl in one area and he hardly uses other variations which makes him too predictable.

Nathan Lyon has come into the spell. This passage of play sums up India's tours in Australia. When you think the side is done and dusted they just manage to pull off something and draw inspiration from somewhere. And that is what we are seeing now from Nitish and Sundar. The team was done and dusted by all means in that morning session once Jadeja fell and it was only procession in the noon session however, the two youngsters had other ideas. Now that they have seen the threat of new ball and spells of Starc and Cummins the runs are there for the taking for these two and don't be surprised if something anticlimactic happens where India gets bowled out in 10 minutes either. Thats where this team is at.

Cummins has not got his lengths right with the second new ball it seems like he has come in with the intention of cleaning up the tail which is the right thing but the tactic he deployed to use a short ball even with the new ball seems like he has some sort of underestimated the resilience and technique of both Sundar and Nitish. Australia need to regroup at the drinks break and reconsider the tactics they have deployed as the ball is now eight overs old and sooner or later Cummins has to bring in the bowling changes and these two set batters might go after Nathan Lyon this time and even Scott Boland.

Washington Sundar too has played a nice supporting act here with Nitish his innings have not been as extravagant as Nitish's. It has been more of attritional cricket where he left a lot and kept defending the balls and made the bowlers come to him instead of him going after the deliveries. Slowly but steadily this partnership is growing nicely for India and Australia now needs to be wary of it. Both Cummins and Starc have looked a touch ineffective with this new ball and might be not a bad ploy to bring in Scot Boland for a spell here. Cummins especially is bowling a lot of bouncers instead of pitching them up.

Nitish slashes one over the point to get to his half-century. It is his maiden half-century and if at all a player in the Indian side deserved one it is Nitish. He got to the 40s in his previous outings and looked quite comfortable but today he went on to get his landmark. However, the job is only half-done India is still a long way behind the game and will be hoping this partnership takes India as close to Australia's total as possible. And one more advantage India has here while Sundar and Nitish are batting together with each other there is no knee-jerk batting required both can just bat normally in their natural game.

The new ball has been taken by Australia and both Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have come into the attack. This is going to be a challenge of a whole different level for both these batters especially with the cloud cover and lights on the ball will swing a bit. This is where India's omission of Shubman Gill and not opting for that extra specialist batter has to come through either Reddy or Sundar has to chip in with at least 80 runs if India has to get to touching distance of Australia's total. But to do that they need to get through this new ball spell yet again which just might be too much to ask of them given their skill set and experience at the game.

These passages when the ball was a touch old and the new ball was due were when Australia ran away with the game. They scored at a high tempo and rattled the Indian bowlers forcing them to bring back Bumrah and tire them. As per India more often than not in the innings it is about them rebuilding having a decent partnership and then losing wickets in clusters has been a feature of this tour. Once again because of the points at which India has lost a wicket today while Travis Head and Nathan Lyon are operating, they are still playing watchfully instead of forcing the issue and gaining some momentum in the game.

Pat Cummins is looking to mess up with the mind of Nitish Reddy here. He is constantly changing the fields and altering the lengths which is adding always an element of surprise to Reddy. He would be aware that Cummins and Boland are the best bowlers for Australia in this innings and whatever we have seen of him so far he has a great understanding of the game hence he might just look to see of both bowlers and squeeze his runs against the likes of Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc. Having said that he has always been proactive against Nathan Lyon in the series.

We are back for the noon session. The objective for India is to avoid Follow On and for Australia is to bundle out India as quickly as possible and bat again and pile on further misery onto the Indians.

Often referred to as the harshly taxed and politically ignored section of society, the Indian lower middle class has found a surprising backer in the recently retired Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin. He used to be one among them.

Ashwin’s parents belonged to the salaried class with modest means but his cricketing skills and rigour helped the family move up the social ladder. He would go on to play top-flight cricket for about a decade and a half during the time Indian players were handsomely paid but he still carries the angst from the days of struggle. (Read more from Sandeep Dwivedi)

India’s ICC World Test Championship final qualification chances seem to grow slimmer as they feature in the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Falling behind in the Boxing Day Test by a considerable margin within the first two days, it is highly improbably for India to fashion a win from the current position. The other two remaining outcomes will mean India’s WTC 2025 final chances will hit a major roadblock before the New Year’s Test in Sydney, starting January 3. (Read more)

That's the end of the morning session and Australia has created further inroads in the game and meanwhile, India has fallen further behind. With the older ball, this is what the doctor ordered for Australia and they delivered it. For India apart from Yashasvi Jaiswal none of the other batters have got to a half-century yet. Yes, Kohli, Jadeja, Pant and now Nitish have got to start but when you are chasing 474 runs you need tons from at least a couple of players which did not happen. With nine overs for the second new ball and India not having much batting left, we might just see Bumrah back with the ball again in the next session.

This is a perfect morning for Australia. On a flat track, they kept sticking to their plans and accuracy which has yielded the results. There is nothing much the batters could have done maybe Pant could have avoided the shot but Jadeja could have not done much differently.

We are getting closer to the lunch break and regardless of whether India crosses the Follow On mark or not Australia will be looking to bat again and give the bowlers a breather. It is hard to see the game go past tomorrow unless Australia decide they will enforce Follow On and the Indian batting implodes yet again which is very much a possibility given the state of affairs of the Indian top order. India is finding themselves way behind in this game and it is hard to see how they are going to make anything out of this Test match. They will need to consider some serious changes yet again for the Sydney Test if they have to retain the trophy.

Nathan Lyon picks Ravindra Jadeja. The left-hander was troubled with that length today morning and it eventually caused his downfall. The ball pitched on the good length region and the ball instead of going with the angle stayed in a straight line and Jadeja who was hanging on the back foot missed the ball and was hit on the pads. It was given out on the field however Jadeja went upstairs but the decision remained. We are afraid of India's hopes of making anything out of this inning with that wicket now. As we have seen at Gabba the first target for India is to get over that Follow-On mark.

Nitish Reddy has looked good here yet again. However, what India needs today from him is not a cameo but an innings of substance. While Jadeja once again is looking solid at the other end Nitish needs to support the senior statesmen. Nitish also has not bowled much in this game and it is important that he makes a contribution with the bat and justifies his place. While his bowling is still a work in progress he has looked good with the bat so far in his short Test career. Meanwhile Jadeja on the other hand needs to continue to do what he is doing and bat through the innings here.

Nitin Sharma: "That's going to make for an ugly replay." Adam Collins said on SEN Cricket

Pratyush Raj: "Poor old Rishabh Pant on the ground watching his dismissal happen before his very eyes," Mark Howard said on Fox Cricket.

"With two out on the leg-side, it's a risky shot," Alyssa Healy said.

Pratyush Raj: "Stupid, stupid, STUPID! You've got two fielders there and you still go for that. You missed the previous shot, and look where you've been caught. That is throwing away your wicket. You cannot say that that's your natural game. I'm sorry. That is not your natural game. That is a stupid shot. That is letting your team down badly. You have to understand the situation as well. He should not be going in that [India's] dressing room, he should be going in the other dressing room."

We have reached the first water break on Day's play here and it has been shared hour if the passage is taken in isolation however, from the game perspective Australia has asserted their dominance further. While Pant might face quite a bit of criticism for the way he got out however, it was a calculated risk as the ball was quite a bit old the pitch was offering nothing and he played his shot it just was the execution that went wrong. Meanwhile Nitish Reddy has walked into the middle and like many times we have seen before he is looking good and positive. 

Rishabh Pant tried to ramp Scott Boland but the intent is not wrong as we have seen when attacking shots were played against Boland he did look short of options to come up with. However, Pant missed it as he got the top edge and the ball flew to flying slip on the boundary Nathan Lyon who took a lovely catch. India has not lost six wickets just when things are looking like they were getting better India has lost wickets. Nitish Kumar Reddy has walked into the middle and India has to do it all over again. Play risk-free cricket for a bit and build another partnership.

Nathan Lyon has been brought into the attack and we have seen when the ball is delivered slower through the air there is a hint of turn on offer on this surface and with two left-handers in the middle the match-up is good enough. There are still no rough marks outside the off-stump at this point we might see them by today evening if Starc bowls enough and the sun continues to beat down as it is beating down right now. Those rough marks will be added weapons to off-spinners against left-handers. We might also see Mitchell Starc come into the attack in an over or two from the other end if Scott Boland does not strike. As we update Boland picks up Pant.

India has ticked the first box here which is to bat the first 30 minutes without losing a wicket. While there have been a couple of sloppy moments with the running between the wickets they have gone away. They need to keep building on this foundation does the Indians. The ball is now 54 overs old hence there is not much help for bowlers and as we have seen with Australians a bit of counter-attack against this old ball is welcomed as well. But Ravindra Jadeja seems to be very keen on just staying in the middle at the moment and hanging on to the wicket instead of piling on some runs against this old ball.

India needs a partnership here. One of the things Australia did on their score to 474 is they kept building partnerships throughout the innings and India so far has only one big partnership of 100 runs between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli last evening. The reason the line up which they have picked they picked is to ensure they bat deep with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar to follow there is still enough batting depth to put on partnerships however, as we have seen last evening batters apply themselves and show that temperament and resistance will be the key to it.

Rishabh Pant steps out of the crease and slams Cummins through long-on region for a boundary. Which is more like him. We have seen in this series earlier on a few occasions where he just went into his groove a bit and let the bowlers dictate terms against him which is unlike how he bats. Trying unorthodox shots and ensuring that bowlers miss their mark where in lies Pant's strength and we have also seen the moment Pant has played that shot Cummins pulled back his length. This ball is 45 overs and more of this batting is only going to do India a world of good by pulling some momentum back in this innings.

Boland and Cummins have started the day for Australia. It is the right move from the skipper as these bowlers will make the batters play more early here while Mitchell Starc can be threatening he also can be a little wavered early on which might ease the pressure out. And as we have seen yesterday, there is not much on offer on this wicket and this pitch is all about being accurate and chipping away at the batters; Cummins and Boland are masters of it. Like batting, bowling is all about partnerships and building that sustained pressure.

The sun is shining bright in Melbourne conditions are excellent for playing cricket. As we have seen the wicket is still very good for batting but some smart bowling and headless cricket from India is what did the damage. Let's see how this session unfolds for either side.

Australia have a massive opportunity to take a big first-innings lead in the Boxing Day Test, with the Border-Gavaskar series delicately poised. Pat Cummins and co will be hunting for wickets on Day 3. 

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir addresses the team huddle.

“It was probably one of the best barbecues I’ve seen, to be honest with you,” Lyon said on ABC Sport.

“It came out of the blue. They were doing it pretty easy out there … pressure does funny things. Silly run-outs are coach killers, aren’t they? It was pretty special.”

Rohit Sharma won't be the first touring captain to come to Australia and feel the heat.

Misbah-ul-Haq averaged 12 in 2016/17 and never played again for Pakistan.

Jimmy Adams averaged 18 across five agonising matches at the beginning of the 21st century, never to be seen for the West Indies again.

And captaincy became too much for both Andrew Flintoff in 2006/07 and Joe Root in 2017/18 on ill-fated Ashes tours.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan heaped praise on Australian skipper Pat Cummins, who pulled all the right strings in order to get Virat Kohli and Akash Deep back in the sheds.

"I thought Cummins' captaincy in the last hour was magnificent," he said on Fox Cricket.

"He had all the bases covered. Australia's tactics that last hour were magnificent."

On the other end, India have been disappointing. 

"India's tactics have been questionable all the way through," Mark Waugh said.

"To send a nightwatchman in 25 minutes before the end of play ... it's a very negative message to the opposition. I don't know what is going on tactically.

"They are a little bit off the boil at the moment."

India will resume in deep trouble at 5-164 and trail the hosts by 310 runs in the first innings following a horror half-hour before stumps on Friday.

After Steve Smith's 140 carried Australia to a formidable first-innings total of 474, India looked to be cruising after tea as Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal built a 102-run partnership before a moment of madness brought it all undone and left India 5-164 at stumps.