Puma trolls former Indian batter after Nitish Reddy’s maiden century in 4th BGT 2024-25 Test

India's Nitish Reddy stole the show with his stunning batting exploits on Day 3 (Saturday, December 28) of the side's ongoing Boxing Day Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in Melbourne. He walked to bat when the visitors were reeling at 191/6 in 55.6 overs.

While India were in a precarious position, Reddy showcased exemplary composure and countered Australia's formidable bowling unit with great aplomb. The 21-year-old notched up his maiden century in international cricket, finishing unbeaten on 105 at stumps.

Reddy earned massive praise for his superlative knock, with even sportswear giant Puma acknowledging his effort. The company trolled former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar on social media.

Ahead of the Boxing Day Test, Manjrekar speaking to ESPNcricinfo, suggested that India should bench Reddy to improve the balance of the team. Puma reacted to the cricketer-turned-commentator's comments by sharing a picture of the all-rounder doing the silence gesture.

Nitish Reddy has impressed many in his debut series. He has been one of India's top performers with the bat on this tour. He has amassed 284 runs across six innings and is currently the second-highest run-getter of the five-match series.

He will resume batting at 105 on Day 4 and will look to add some crucial runs as India look to reduce the first-innings deficit. The visitors finished 358/9 at stumps, still trailing Australia by 116 in the first innings.

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"It's a bit too early to think of him as a batting all-rounder" - What Sanjay Manjrekar had said about Nitish Reddy ahead of 4th BGT 2024-25 Test

During a chat with ESPNcricinfo, Sanjay Manjrekar opined that India should consider dropping Nitish Reddy for the crucial encounter. While he emphasized the talented youngster has a lot of potential, it was still too early to play him as a batting all-rounder.

Manjrekar remarked:

"So at the moment, Nitish Kumar Reddy helps you recover from a bad start. He bats at number eight, gets you 40. But is he at this stage good enough to be pushed up the order and played as a pure batter and drop somebody out of form? And then you can get a special bowler. His bowling at this stage is not good enough for him to play as a bowling all-rounder and maybe batting. It's a bit too early to think of him as a batting all-rounder."

Nitish Reddy crossed the 100-run mark with a boundary over the mid-on fielder off Scott Boland's bowling in the 115th over. Reddy's father, Mutalya Reddy, who was present in the stands, shed tears of joy after his son's maiden century.