![Nitish Kumar Reddy: Another Pace All-rounder For Indian Cricket? NItish Kumar Reddy](https://aakasavani.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NItish-Kumar-Reddy.jpg)
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“Last year, they saw the bowler in me. Now let’s see the batter. As an all-rounder, you will strive to perform at your best,” are the words of Nitish Kumar Reddy, a SRH all-rounder, before entering the 17th IPL. Nitish Reddy turned into an over-night star after his destructive and valiant innings against the Punjab Kings.
There has been a dearth of pacey all-rounders in the Indian team for many years. Many came to fill that position, yet some of them are not keeping their chances, and a few are going out after losing fitness. But in this IPL, an Andhra boy appeared to fill that gap. Nitish Kumar Reddy, an Andhra all-rounder, has turned into an over-night star after yesterday’s innings against the Punjab Kings. Now every cricket fan from India is discussing him and comparing him with Hardik Pandya. However, a question arises: will a single inning make him as equal as Hardik?
The 17th season of IPL has become an amazing platform for the new lads. They are playing at a level of where it becomes a challenge for seniors to get a position in team India.
While the names of Mayank Yadav, Raghuvanshi, and Shashank Singh were mentioned the other day, Nitish Reddy also joined the list. Representing the Sunrisers, he excelled in batting, bowling, and fielding in the match against Punjab. When hitters like Travis Head, Abhishek, and Klassen faltered, this 20-year-old lad thrashed the international bowlers with a bang. Batting on a tough pitch, He scored a valuable 64 runs off 37 balls. He took a wicket while bowling and also shined in fielding.
Cricket analysts praised him, saying it was pleasing to see him play freely without any pressure in the earlier match against Chennai. Looking at his self-confidence, it is expected that he will definitely enter the Indian team.
Maintaining fitness:
The number of pace all-rounders in Team India is very low. Sustained 130+ km. It is a strength for any team to have a player who bowls with speed and shines in the batting. We can understand our situation if we say that Kapil Dev, who still won the first ODI World Cup, is the top-pace all-rounder. No one, including Manoj Prabhakar, who came after him, reached that level. Although Irfan Pathan played that role for some years, he was not as successful as expected in batting. Hardik Pandya initially impressed as a fast bowler-cum-batter. He is failing to perform at that level due to injuries. Now he is struggling to at least complete his quota of overs. This is the situation in the current IPL as well.
Vijayshankar, Venkatesh Iyer, and Shivam Dube, like pace all-rounders, came into the team but could not make an impact. Shivam Dube is not showing strength in pace; he is only focusing on batting.
Meanwhile, BCCI’s search for a pace all-rounder continues. If you see the diversity in Nitish’s batting style and bowling, you can say that he deserves that position. However, in this tournament, you have to maintain your fitness along with consistently excelling. Analysts say that if he does the same… there is a possibility that Nitish’s name will be examined as a backup to Hardik Pandya in the next T20 World Cup.
Who is Nitish Reddy?
Nitish Reddy’s talent was first recognized by former chief selector MSK Prasad. After seeing him play during Under-12 and Under-14 matches, MSK sent him to ACA Academy. During the 2017-18 season, Vijay scored a quadruple (441 off 345 balls) against Nagaland in the Merchant Trophy. He scored 1,237 runs and took 26 wickets in that tournament. He received the Jagmohan Dalmiya Award as ‘Best Cricketer Under-16’ that year. Nitish was acquired by Sunrisers in 2023 with a minimum price of Rs. 20 lakh. He played only two matches in the first season. To use him as a finisher this season, he was brought into the ring in the lower order in the match against Chennai. In this match, he scored 14 runs off 8 balls and led the team to victory. He came to bat in the top order against Punjab and scored a half-century. Nitish, who has played 17 first-class matches so far, has scored 566 runs at an average of 29.96. He took 52 wickets in bowling. 22 List: He scored 403 runs and took 11 wickets in any match. He scored 170 runs and took one wicket in nine T20Is. Nitish, who made his Ranji debut against Kerala in 2020, batted in the lower order, scored 39 runs, and played a vital role in the team’s victory.