Standing close to six feet tall, broad-shouldered, and unmistakably modern, Nitish Sudini cuts a striking figure at the crease. Twin earrings catching the light, curly hairdo bouncing with each stride, the 18-year-old from Atlanta carries swagger as naturally as he carries his bat. When he reached his half-century against New Zealand U19s on Sunday, Sudini quite buoyantly broke into the familiar Pushpa celebration. An hour later, the celebration evolved into something unmistakably his own, something that grew truer to the landmark moment. The borrowed theatrics made way for raw emotion. He leapt high into the air, roaring, thumping his chest with his bat, before holding a handwritten message aloft for the cameras: “USA, this is for you,” to forever etch his name in the rich annals of American cricket spreading close to two centuries as the first centurion in an ICC tournament.
