New Delhi, July 24
Andhra Pradesh native and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy said that star India cricketer Hardik Pandya and England's Ben Stokes are his inspirations.
Nitish was called-up to the Indian squad for the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe after a solid Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season with SRH. Though he could not play against against Zimbabwe due to a sports hernia injury, he has created an impression strong enough to be considered for future series with an 'Emerging Player of the Season' award-worthy performance in this year's IPL, scoring 303 runs in 11 innings with two fifties at a strike rate of 143 and taking three wickets with his seam bowling.
The 21-year-old is now working his way back to full fitness as the new domestic season starts on September 5 with the Duleep Trophy.
Speaking to Star Sports, Nitish recalled when he received a message from India all-rounder Hardik Pandya. The 21-year-old added that Hardik told him that they would talk soon.
"Hardik bhai sent me a message saying the intent and energy I was giving on the field was good and to keep respecting the game. Hardik said we would talk soon. I was shocked to see his message after the IPL season, especially since he was busy with World Cup duties. Hardik Pandya and Ben Stokes are my inspirations for being an all-rounder. I replied, thanking him for his message," Nitish was quoted in a release from Star Sports as saying.
Nitish started making waves Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy when he scored a triple ton against Tamil Nadu, 190 against a strong bowling attack of Karnataka and a quadruple ton against Nagaland, finishing the 2017-18 edition of the tournament with 1,237 runs.
Frustrated by his poor performances in 2019, Nitish decided to play solely as a batter, but Srinivas Reddy, one of his coaches, encouraged him to continue as a bowler, pointing out the rarity of pace bowling all-rounders in India.
After that, Nitish was picked up for an ACA camp to pick up a pool of players for the 2019-20 domestic season. The all-rounder said that he was initially picked up as an understudy in the larger squad but the skipper, Hanuma Vihari, was impressed and pushed for his inclusion in the Ranji squad. He went on to make his Ranji debut against Kerala in January 2020.
Reddy was picked up SRH ahead of the 2023 IPL but got to play only two games in which he did not get to bat. In July last year, he was called up to India's Emerging Players squad for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka but did not get to bat there either.