‘Used to calculate my age to ensure Virat Kohli doesn’t retire on my debut’: Indian youngster reveals his childhood fan base

Nitish Kumar Reddy, the 21-year-old Team India all-rounder, has narrated his emotional journey from a young cricket enthusiast who dreamed of playing alongside Virat Kohli to making his Test debut for India in Perth last month. Reddy, who idolized Kohli as a child, revealed that he often calculated his age in the hope of getting a chance to play alongside the Indian legend before Kohli’s retirement.

Reddy’s dream came true when he was presented with his first Test cap by Kohli before the first Test against Australia, which India won by 295 runs and took a 1-0 series lead. Interestingly, after his debut, a picture went viral in which Reddy took a selfie with Kohli, who was sitting a little further away; The Indian batsman did not look at the camera but Reddy said it was his “security photo”.

“That was a security photo at the time when he (Virat Kohli) was so famous. I felt like if I don’t get a chance to take a photo, let’s take a photo now. It reminds me of my childhood dreams. From childhood, I was a big fan of Virat Bhaiya. I really liked his celebration – at that time I was calculating my age to see if he wouldn’t give up when I made my India debut,” Reddy told BCCI.

During the Perth Test, Reddy focused more on Kohli’s performance than his own. “Now I’m playing with him and I watched him get close to 10 runs, then five runs and I thought he was close to reaching his hundred. I didn’t even realize I was close to reaching my 50 – it would be my first 50 in Tests if I scored 12 runs. I was so excited when he reached his 81st hundred and it was a great moment to see it,” Reddy said.

KL Rahul’s advice

Reddy also spoke about his experience adjusting to the Indian team environment and said that he was initially nervous while interacting with senior players.

However, it was KL Rahul who helped him settle in. “At first I was a little nervous about how I would interact with the players. So if I have any problem I just want to talk to KL Bhai. I somehow feel a good vibe from him, whatever suggestions he gives, it works for me,” Reddy explained.

A piece of advice from Rahul caught Reddy’s eye. “He once said: ‘Macha, when you go to the middle everything happens so quickly. Don’t go so fast, just slow down the game’. That’s because my first game went like this; everything happened so quickly.” “It helped me in a matter of seconds and that really helped me before I batted in my debut match,” Reddy said, praising Rahul for his support.