HYDERABAD: When Nitish Kumar Reddy knelt down at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to celebrate his century against Australia on Saturday, he stood taller than a giant. It was also his way of telling the world where he came from — the land of Telugu movies or Tollywood — which shapes popular culture in the two Telugu states of AP and Telangana.

Nitish Kumar Reddy injected hope back into the Indian dressing room on the back of his maiden Test century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the Boxing Day Test match. Nitish went back unbeaten on 105 at stumps on Day 3 as he carried India from 191/6 to 358/9.

Batting at No. 8, Reddy delivered a remarkable knock under pressure to help India avoid the follow-on. The right-handed batter reached his first Test fifty in 81 deliveries, hitting four boundaries and a six.