Young Indian star gets a hero’s welcome on returning to hometown after BGT 2024-25 [Watch]

India all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy received a hero’s welcome after returning to his hometown of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh following the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In a video shared by IANS, he was seen receiving a warm welcome with garlands and a lap of honor in an open jeep with a drum playing in the background.

Reddy was one of the big positives for the Men in Blue in the five-game series Down Under. The 21-year-old showed promising signs with the bat, scoring three 40s before his maiden Test century in the Boxing Day Test, where he scored 114.

His century ensured India took the game to the final session on Day 5 before losing the fixture by 184 runs.

Watch the video below:

The right-handed batter was India’s third-highest leading run-scorer with 298 runs in nine innings at an average of 37.25, only behind Yashasvi Jaiswal (391) and KL Rahul (276). The medium pacer also picked up five wickets in the series.

The tourists, however, surrendered the series 1-3 to Australia, losing BGT for the first time in last 10 years.

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“Not easy at all for any batter to make his debut in Australia” – Former India player heaps praise on Nitish Kumar Reddy

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan recently lauded Nitish Kumar Reddy for delivering with the bat in BGT 2024-25 series. Like former Australia skipper Michael Clarke and former India head coach Ravi Shastri, he also backed Reddy to play in the top six.

The cricketer-turned-commentator told Star Sports (via India Today):

“You have got an excellent prospect. It's not easy at all for any batter to make his debut in Australia. We might show his century, but he was batting very well before that, he was reaching the 40-run mark regularly.”

“However, when he scored a century, all of us started to feel that we got a player who could bat not at No. 8 or No. 7 but at No. 6. If he can consistently bat at No. 6, I feel he has that potential, India have got a terrific player, who can solve the combination to a large extent," he added.

Nitish Kumar Reddy is likely to keep his place in the India squad for the upcoming five-game T20I series against England.