With six innings, 219 runs, 17 sixes, and a strike rate of 154, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Nitish Kumar Reddy’s aggressive intent and run-scoring in crunch situations has been one of the highlights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
Reddy’s prowess was on display in SRH’s contest against table toppers Rajasthan Royals as he led his side’s batting with a 42-ball 76 after they had lost two early wickets. The batter has been gathering praise as his performances have caught the limelight amongst fans and experts equally. However, those who know Reddy, have to say that he has always been an aggressive hitter and it comes naturally to him.
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Reddy’s Andhra teammate K.V. Sasikanth shared his memories from Reddy’s early days in the domestic and age group cricket, in conversation with CricketNext.
“It (Aggressive hitting) comes naturally to him. He used to clear the ball very well from his early days and over the period it has become more aggressive. He does his fitness very well,” Sasikanth explained.
Shasikant is happier with Reddy’s temperament than his six-hitting power.
“He is doing pretty well but one thing is really good that he takes the team over the line when early wickets fall. Coming in at a crucial situation and playing high-quality bowlers is quite great actually.”
The same was on display when Reddy’s top score led SRH to a thrilling one-run win against RR in Hyderabad. Sasikanth has watched his friend from close quarters and reckons that the all-rounder is someone who has a lot of ability.
“He is getting the praise because he deserves it. He is surely very capable of doing wonderful things. But one season doesn’t define it. He needs to be consistent,” Sasikanth added.
Reddy and Sasikanth both come from Vishakhapatnam, play for Andhra Pradesh, and share a good bond alongside sharing the ball. The duo bowl in tandem, and are bowling partners for their state team in red-ball cricket.
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“I first saw him when he was selected was Vijay Hazare directly from Under-16. He had scored 400 (441) in the Vijay Merchant Trophy against Nagaland. After that he was included in [Andhra] Vijay Hazare squad,” Sasikanth recalled Reddy’s arrival on the big stage.
Reddy, as Sasikanth confirms, had already hogged the limelight in his debut in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
“In his Vijay Hazare debut, he scored a fifty-odd (54). It was a very good knock as we had lost a couple of early wickets. From there, it has been a long journey for us. Right now, we share the (bowling) partnership in the Ranji Trophy.
“Talking about our planning while bowling, it’s kind of an instinctive thing. He bowls both inswing and out swing. I generally bowl lot of out-swingers. But most of the areas will be the same,” he added.
The 20-year-old has done decently well with the ball in First Class matches (52 wickets in 17 matches) and List A cricket (14 scalps in 22 games). However, his T20 bowling is distant from his performance in the longer formats. In 14 T20s, Nitish has just picked three wickets and has an economy of over 10.
But his Andhra teammate isn’t really bothered about his numbers and suggests that T20 cricket is an unpredictable format.
“See, T20 cricket is a very unpredictable format. But over the period, he has developed his Yorkers very well,” he said.
‘Inka naam bohot sunege aap bhavishya mein’
Reddy’s excellence with the bat has also attracted praise from several international cricketers.
Former India cricketer and Star Sports commentator and Mohammad Kaif has been in awe of the youngster and said that he is going to be a prominent figure in Indian cricket.
“Inka naam sunenge aap, bhavishya mai bahut sunenge [You will hear his name; you will hear it a lot in the future],” Kaif said on the broadcast.
Meanwhile, ex-Australia all-rounder Shane Watson also echoed Sasikanth’s thoughts and lauded Reddy for taking on big guns.
“Yeah, he is becoming one of my favourite cricketers to watch for sure. For a young man to be able to exert his dominance on a spin bowling attack, especially of Yuzi Chahal and Ashwin and some of the shots, in fact, all of the shots that he played tonight were of a rare quality. For a young man to have that skill development at such a young age and to execute under pressure against the best bowlers in the world…,” Watson said on Jio Cinema after the SRH vs RR game.
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