Nitish Kumar Reddy returned to competitive cricket after two months, and the talented all-rounder was on point. Donning the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) orange kit after 10 months, Nitish showed why he’s rated so highly. The score was 130/2 in 9.3 overs when he entered.
He knew SRH was looking at a minimum of a 250-260 run score. So, the 21-year-old adapted to the situation. While not a slow player by any means, with a 146 strike rate in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Nitish played as aggressively as he could.
Nitish Kumar Reddy’s comeback knock
The Rajasthan Royals (RR) decided to bowl short to him, a ball which has kept him quiet in T20 cricket. But having spent the last two months at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Centre of Excellence, Nitish was preparing himself to take on such challenges.
He took pacers Tushar Deshpande, Jofra Archer, and Fazalhaq Farooqi on. Four of his five boundaries came against them. In the middle with a well-set Ishan Kishan, he let the southpaw go all out and played second fiddle. Kishan was going berserk and looked on his way to his maiden IPL hundred.
Maheesh Theekshana gets Nitish Kumar Reddy for
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Nitish chipped away. In the 15th over of the first innings, while trying to take on Maheesh Theekshana, he departed. Cramped by a fall delivery from the Sri Lanka spinner, Nitish decided to play the famous helicopter shot, made famous by MS Dhoni. He took the timing right but couldn’t get the elevation or distance.
Yashasvi Jaiswal pocketed an easy catch at long on. But the job was done. 30 (15) is what SRH needed. They would rather not slow down, and Nitish made sure that he let Kishan continue without building any pressure. Job done. On a personal level, it bodes well for Nitish as well. He was coming from an injury, and to start in such an emphatic way will help his confidence.
