Sports

Nitish Kumar Reddy: A record-breaker in age-group cricket, best under-16 cricketer and now an IPL star

April 10, 2024
S K Mittal

“Invest in him. He’s the next big thing, not just in franchise cricket,” India batter Hanuma Vihari quote tweeted an old post on X, shortly after his young statemate Nitish Kumar Reddy smashed 64 runs off 37 balls for SunRisers Hyderabad against Punjab Kings.

As a 20-year-old, one must have serious potential to break into the SRH XI this year, with a host of international stars headlining the batting and bowling departments. Sealing a breezy win over the Chennai Super Kings with his eight-ball 14 cameo at number six that culminated with a six, Nitish had done enough to get another go.

“Batter who can bowl medium pace. Rare commodity!” Vihari wrote further in his post.

With SRH’s vaunted batting order collapsing to 27 for two and later 64 for four against the Punjab Kings, Nitish was promoted as stop-gap to number 4, ahead of Heinrich Klaasen and impact substitute Rahul Tripathi.

The Vizag boy sped off the blocks with a couple of boundaries against Harpreet Brar before smiting Kagiso Rabada and Sam Curran for sixes in the space of three deliveries. He seized his opportunity with a massive 20-run over against Brar, cracking two sixes and as many fours, catapulting SRH to a match-winning total (182).

None of his teammates could cross 25.

He also chipped in with three overs of medium pace, merely four years after taking up bowling seriously. His maiden IPL wicket came with an adept slower bouncer getting the better of Jitesh Sharma.

A record-breaker

In his early teens, Nitish worshipped India’s batting maestro Virat Kohli as he dominated a top-order batting role for Andhra in age-group cricket. Nitish’s breakout year was the 2017-18 season, where he rewrote the record books in the Vijay Merchant Trophy.

Festive offer

Nitish cracked 1,237 runs at an astounding average of 176.41 — the highest aggregate in the history of the tournament. Astonishingly, his run streak included a triple hundred, two centuries, two fifties and a 366-ball 441 against Nagaland.

Nitish was adjudged the ‘Best Cricketer in the Under-16’ category by the BCCI at the annual award function in 2018, when he chanced upon his batting idol, Virat.

“The bodyguards got in the way, and I could not meet him (Kohli),” he would remark a few years later.

However, with increasing demands on his body, Nitish was forced to rethink his role as a top-order bat and new ball bowler. “He was under my watch even in the U-19 circuit. Though he could play up top and also open the bowling, it was too much to ask of him then. We decided to move him into the middle-order and improve his focus with the ball,” Nirmal Kumar, the current Andhra coach says.

While his batting returns have been nominal in the lower order, the seam bowling all-rounder tag bolted him into the senior Andhra team in early 2020 before becoming a regular across formats from 2021. Nitish picked up 25 wickets each in the last two Ranji Trophy editions, emerging as the leading wicket-taker for Andhra this season during a quarterfinal finish.

While his pace may still be in the works, Nirmal was content to see Nitish’s batting coming along in the longer format with over 350 runs in the Ranji season, including a 159 against Bihar. “He’s one of the finest all-rounder talents in India who can bat and ball equally. He is by far the fittest player on the Andhra side and a very good all-round fielder and specialist slip-catcher.

“He is open to any responsibility we suggest, ready to bat at any position. Can bowl the yorkers, bouncers and the death overs…the full package,” Nirmal remarks.

“What stands out to me from this season was how he made tough runs. During the Ranji quarterfinal against Madhya Pradesh, he had picked up four wickets in the second-innings, and we drafted him in at 3 after an early collapse. He was able to grind it out briefly and revive our innings. Although we lost, that memory of his willingness to step up at any time stands out,” he adds.

Nitish’s father, Mutyala, reveals his ward’s turning point – a pivotal meeting with India’s premier all-rounder, Hardik, at the National Cricket Academy.

“During his U19 days he spent at the NCA, he had a chance to speak to Hardik Pandya. And since then, he just wanted to be an all-rounder.”

Mutyala joined his son’s drive keenly, so much so that he quit his job outside Visakhapatnam to support Nitish in his journey.

“I was working in Hindustan Zinc when I was transferred to Udaipur. Since I did not know Hindi, I was in two minds whether to go or not. Eventually, I stayed back in Vizag only because of Nitish’s cricket. Though he hadn’t played for the state, he was playing well in district cricket. His coaches insisted that Nitish had a good future, and so I decided to quit the job and shape his career,” Mutyala told The Indian Express.

The hardships have borne fruit and Nitish has realised his first step towards meeting Hardik in national colours.

(Inputs Venkata Krishna B)

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