Andhra all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy came to the party when Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) needed someone to put their hand up and be counted to not only smash his maiden IPL fifty, but also deliver on the promise he showed during the domestic cricket including Ranji Trophy where he scored 366 runs including a 159 against Bihar. Reddy, primarily a batter, has progressed as an all-rounder in age-group cricket and aspires to be the best all-rounder in the world like Hardik Pandya and Ben Stokes.
The 20-year-old Reddy came through the ranks as an opening batter for Andhra but started batting at No. 3 from the Vinoo Mankad Under-19 tournament onwards in 2018-19. Everyone got a first glimpse of Reddy at the BCCI annual awards 2017/18 when a skinny 15-year-old cricketer bagged the Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy for being the U16 star for the year.
Reddy worked his way through the ranks in domestic cricket batting in the top-order but slid down to No. 3/4 for Andhra at the senior level as he kept working on his bowling. In his own admission, Reddy found hard to open the batting while bowling pace. Since he didn't give up on his bowling, he developed into a batting all-rounder who bowls medium pace.
He got picked up in the IPL auction 2023 by the Sunrisers Hyderabad at his base price of INR 20 Lakh but played just two games, that too as a bowler. However, after a smashing Ranji season where he was consistently providing runs for Andhra at No. 7/8 and taking wickets and a lot of them. Reddy ended his season with 25 wickets in seven matches including a five-wicket haul against Mumbai. After a good domestic season in the Ranji and Vijay Hazare Trophy, Reddy carried his form to the IPL and is now showing what he can do, especially with the bat in the middle and lower order for SRH.
Reddy has been given the No. 4 role by the Sunrisers and after showing a glimpse of what he can do against the Chennai Super Kings, stood up when the wickets were falling all around him. Reddy started slow but came into his own against Harpreet Brar taking him for a couple of fours and as many sixes.
Reddy smashed his maiden IPL fifty and even though he got out for 64, he has definitely sealed his spot in the SRH line-up and will be hoping to show more of the same in the remaining games.
