As an opener for Andhra, Nitish Kumar Reddy has amassed a quadruple ton of experience, winning the Vijay Merchant Trophy. However, the transition from youth cricket to the professional arena hasn’t been easy. He played in just two matches during his first IPL season last year, both as a bowler and without a batting opportunities.
Reddy the batter, who was in his late teens, was advised to go to the middle order by his coaches and advisors in order to protect his unique skill set as a true pace-bowling all-rounder. The 20-year-old demonstrated why the Sunrisers Hyderabad batting promotion was worthwhile in just his second IPL 2024 match.
However, there was a good reason for it—a lot had changed in the two seasons. Reddy (2023) was more of a traditional hitter with traditional shots, but the young player had put in a lot of work to increase his range after experiencing the IPL. Reddy made a lasting impression on his captain and the think-tank during the pre-season practice games by carrying out his objectives with sufficient preparation. Reddy jumped at the chance to take advantage of Mayank Agarwal’s illness in Chennai last week. Despite Agarwal being declared healthy for the Punjab Kings match, he managed to maintain his spot in the starting lineup with a six on the game’s winning shot against CSK.
Reddy reached the crease rather early and within the PowerPlay itself, as SRH looked hopeless at 27/2, with Arshdeep Singh doing havoc with the new ball. He was cautious at first, even waiting to tee off for more experienced partners like Rahul Tripathi and the highly effective Heinrich Klaasen. However, with both players leaving cheaply and SRH falling to 64/4, Reddy realized it was time to have faith in himself.
From then on, the acceleration was unbelievable. Reddy threw caution to the breeze and helped SRH to a match-winning total of 182, scoring 14 off the first 18 deliveries he faced and 50 off the following 19. Reddy turned up a match-winning turnaround from a lone boundary shot in the opening 14 runs to end with five sixes and three more fours. But there was a method to his insanity.
The player of the match was Nitish.
Nitish received the IPL Player of the Match award.
To be honest, the idea was to take on spin when the track is reintroduced and politely bid farewell to the pacers on a low-bouncing track. But Reddy wasn’t the type to back down when the opportunity presented itself. As Reddy attempted to shift gears in the second half, both Kagiso Rabada and Sam Curran’s slower short balls were picked up early and sent screaming over the greater of the boundaries. And then came the over that, looking back, completely changed the course of the game.
Reddy unsettled Harpreet Brar early on with a reverse swipe to backward point for four, and by the fifteenth wicket, he was bowled out. The left-armer made a mistake and gave away a delicious full-toss the next over cow corner, which Reddy hammered home for his first-ever IPL fifty in 32 balls with a 91-meter shot into the bleachers. If not for Shashank Singh’s expensive error at deep midwicket, where he not only fumbled the catch but also parried it to the ropes, Brar might have put an end to the carnage there. After that, a disheartened Brar delivered a slot ball, which Reddy swung over long-off ropes for six more.
This sequence of a complete freebie after a forceful shot from the young player had also occurred in Brar’s previous over, and it was ideal for Reddy. The spinner’s economy in the 2024 IPL was a very respectable 5.69, but on Tuesday, Brar finished with his most costly IPL stats of 0-48. In just his second batting appearance of the league, Reddy took out Punjab’s best bowler in a targeted attack, and after giving up just 11 in his opening two overs, Brar’s final two went for 15 and 22, respectively. This set up his team for two vital points.
With more than three overs remaining, a misplaced shot off a full toss ultimately brought Reddy’s excellent knock to an end; a century was theoretically up for grabs. By then, though, the 20-year-old had more than fulfilled his role with to his career-high 64 off 37 deliveries and his devastating 50-run partnership with Abdul Samad (25 off 12) in just 20 deliveries.
While Shashank was among the first to rush in to congratulate the half-centurion, Samad, Reddy’s sidekick in Mullanpur, thought that “cricket is all about self-belief at this level” and attributed it to his “eagerness and hunger to perform” with expectations at bare minimum in their debut season. It has been quite the start for the Andhra all-rounder, who was formerly a net bowler for CSK, to become the match winner for SRH in just his fourth appearance for the team. Reddy certainly had the hunger and confidence to be worthy of a steady run at SRH on a night when the most of the established stars failed to get going for either squad.
