India and Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been given the green light by the medical team at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru to play in the IPL 2025 from the first game itself.
Nitish had picked up a side strain during the T20I series against England last month and was in recovery. He ticked off the final box after clearing a yo-yo test on Saturday to get a nod for the start of the upcoming season of the Indian cash-rich league. SRH will play the Rajasthan Royals at home in their opening clash on March 23. Nitish is likely to join the SRH camp on Sunday for their pre-tournament preparations.
The all-rounder took part in a training session on Friday and bowled full tilt. His rehab went 15 days longer than the recommended period of three weeks.
The Sunrisers had retained five players ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, which featured all of their core players. Nitish was among the four others - Pat Cummins, Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen - to have been retained.
Nitish has become an integral part of the SRH setup. He has also been impressive in his short India stint and has become a centre figure in India's plans for the future.
Nitish had a breakout IPL 2024 season in which he made 303 runs in 15 matches at a strike rate of 142.92, including two half-centuries. He is also looking to work on his bowling.
His maiden IPL season saw him earn an India call-up for the Bangladesh T20Is. He made 74 in one of those three games. The 21-year-old then earned an India Test call-up for the Border-Gavaskar series and was highly impressive in the whites.
He scored 298 runs in nine innings at 37.25 and had a century to his name, too. Nitish played in one T20I in the England series before he picked up his side strain to get ruled out for the remainder of the series.