MELBOURNE: Mutyala Reddy was the star at lunch break on day four of the Boxing Day Test between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In fact, his entire family was. His daughter Tejaswi joined the commentary for ABC Radio to talk about the journey her brother, Nitish K Reddy, and what the family has been through to get here.
While Nitish had his moment of glory late on Saturday evening, Mutyala had his own moment to cherish when he ran into the former Indian captain turned commentator Sunil Gavaskar. An out-and-out emotional person, Mutyala could not resist tearing up in front of Gavaskar. He touched the former India captain's feet and took blessings from the stalwart who shares the name of the ongoing series with Allan Border, and so did the entire family.
Shortly after, he was once again swarmed by the Indian media, doing interviews one after another. Among the many questions, the one was about his meeting with Gavaskar and why he reacted the way he did. Mutyala got emotional, first of the many during the the interaction, trying to explain. “I know where I come from,” he said, before adding, “No one knew me if I went from my village to another. Today, forget India, in Australia, Australians are asking for selfies. I cannot express how happy I am.”
“To meet Gavaskar sir, I am not exaggerating, he is like a God to me. Sachin Tendulkar gaaru, Gavaskar gaaru, Rahul Dravid gaaru all these people are looked at as Gods of sport. To meet them, it felt like meeting God. That is why I asked for his blessings and fell on his feet. From a young age, we have clapped and watched them play. When someone like him is in happy tears because of my son what is wrong in getting his blessings?“
Where did Mutyala come from? A humble government employee who wanted to make his son, who was as mischievous as any kid his age would be — a cricketer. So much so that he had to quit his job because he was about to be transferred to Udaipur. While Nitish was coming up the ranks, he had not even played for Andhra yet and Mutyala had 25 years of service left. Confused by the decisions, he sat down with his wife Manasa and discussed. “Sometimes I thank her a lot. If she had questioned me that day I would have gone for the job but when I said what I said she responded by saying anything is fine with me. Since you want to be a doctor, let’s make the daughter a doctor but I will take our son into cricket.”
From that day till the pandemic, Nitish’s cricket was his dad’s full-time job. He would go to the ground in the morning with Nitish and come back with him only in the evening. There was no drop-off and pick up. Even if he was the only one on the ground where Nitish was playing, Mutyala was there. When things went well, he would come back home happy and if it didn’t his wife would know and try to balance it out with jokes in the evening.
Through all this Nitish remained the mischievous kid who loved playing cricket. He would hit the ball into neighbour’s house or throw stones at the mango trees on the way back from school and his uncle and sister would be facing the heat. It was only when the pandemic hit, that Nitish changed upside down. He saw the struggles, especially financial ones, the family went through and realised he had to take up responsibility.
Manasa too had a conversation with him. “I told him ‘How daddy was when he got married and how he is now. You have to do it for him and take him to a good position.’ ‘Nenu chesthanu amma’ he would say. He said that he would do it. He did what I asked him to do,” says the happy mother.
The changeover was such that even Mutyala and Manasa could not believe it. Nitish started focusing on his fitness and routine all by himself and told the parents that they did not need to worry. He stuck to the diet regimes that were needed and it started showing. He used to give Manasa the daily requirement and it was followed to the T. Even if he disliked the food, Nitish never shied away from having it once he was explained why it would help his fitness. Once the results started coming his confidence grew and it in turn helped him develop into the player that he is today.
Even when the family arrived in Melbourne and Mutyala told him how proud he was, Nitish was quick to respond: “One thing he said ‘Daddy don’t worry there is so much we are going to see.’ Yesterday he showed by smashing a hundred. Everybody keeps asking what is that belief you have in Nitish why did you leave the job based on it… it happened yesterday. He told us there was a lot more to come and see and the next evening in 24 hours, he showed us. If you don’t believe in such a son, who are you going to believe in? He is a god-given gift to us,” Mutyala added.
Manasa had her moment when she met Nitish after the century at the hotel. “First I met him after his Hundred, he asked me ‘mummy are you happy’ I said ‘full happy nana’. So many happy tears,” she recalled.
For Nitish, it was all about repaying the faith they had in him and doing everything he could contribute to the team. That in essence has been the story of the Reddy family. It is one of belief, trust and sacrifice. And of course, years and years of hard work.
The Boxing Day Test match is still in contention and Nitish is still very much confident of turning things around on Monday. But when the series is done, when he finally goes back home to Visakhapatnam, Manasa will be waiting with his favourite Gongura Mutton. Even though he might still resist and stick to his diet, for once, Nitish might be able to pause, soak it all in and enjoy his favourite food made by Amma.
