Sunrisers Hyderabad Nitish Kumar Reddy during a net practice session
| Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji
For Nitish Reddy, the 18th edition of the IPL has lent a first-hand experience of just how fickle the T20 format can be. At the start of this year’s summer ritual, the 22-year-old must have intended to build on his breakthrough 2024 season. In Sunrisers Hyderabad’s run to last year’s final, Nitish had been the surprise package, his quickfire runs and a few overs of medium-pace providing Pat Cummins’ men greater depth in the two core departments.
The all-round skills, in turn, helped the youngster from Andhra Pradesh get fast-tracked into India’s T20I and Test teams. And he had decent success too, notching up a maiden Test ton against Australia at the hallowed Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
But over the last two months in the IPL, Nitish has endured a conspicuous downturn. In 13 matches this season, the middle-order batter tallied just 182 runs at an average of 22.75.
His strike rate of 118.95 was also not up to scratch. He will have to shift focus now to the five-Test tour of England, where he is part of an 18-member squad as one of two seam-bowling all-rounders alongside Shardul Thakur.
SRH coach Dan Vettori threw his weight behind Nitish. “It’s always tricky to play that role at No. 4 or 5. But we know that Nitish, when he’s at his best, builds his innings and can then capitalise at the end against pace and spin. So I think it is just one of those seasons that’s a little bit of a learning for him, but he’s too good a player not to bounce back,” the bespectacled Kiwi told reporters.
With the ball, too, Nitish had a negligible presence, rolling his arm over in just the last three matches. “He brought a side-strain into the tournament, and then it was just a slow, meticulous build-up. It was purely down to injury,” Vettori revealed.
Published – May 26, 2025 01:10 pm IST
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