Sundar has known Nitish Reddy as a “mentally strong man” whose philosophy in life is to give his 120 percent, be it on the field or off it. “An unbelievable hundred. I mean this hundred will be talked about and remembered for a very, very long time. Boxing Day century, I think he’ll forever remember it as well,” said Washington, unable to stop praising the knock. Reddy’s 105 not out and his 127- run stand for the eighth wicket with Washington (50) took India to 358 for 9 on third day of the fourth Test against Australia at the MCG, which now could meander towards another draw. “One thing is for sure. He is mentally very, very strong

 

I mean I’ve known him for quite a few years. The way he went about his business today was amazing,” Washington said at the end of the day’s play. “He made sure he picked those phases in the game where he thought he’d get a few boundaries in and he made sure he was also aware that we needed to see through a few walls as well when the situation got a little challenging for us.” Washington has seen a bit of Reddy during his time at Sunrisers Hyderabad and has been blown away by his sincerity and work ethic. “I mean, one thing about Nitish is no matter what he’s doing, on the field or off the field, he’s going to give his 120%. That’s his approach to life, not just cricket. Obviously, I saw him quite closely during the IPL as well as his work ethic.

 

“The things that he would do before every game was something very, very pleasing for all of us to watch and we knew something very special was around the corner. I’m sure you guys will get to know more about him.” How they planned the partnership Washington felt that their stand could be divided into phases based on the situation of the match. “I think the entire day was a mixture of different phases. When I went in, things were quite difficult, quite challenging. Obviously I had to see through initially, the first 20 balls and then runs started coming in. Since it rained for a long time, we could get a little stickier (stick around) and start to do a lot more,” he explained.