Nitish Kumar Reddy, An All-Rounder in a Rare Zone

Seam bowling all-rounders are far few in India. Kapil Dev was around back in the day who could bowl 135+ consistently while batting like a credible batter. Moving forward though there was a vacuum of fast bowling all-rounders. The likes of Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan and Sourav Ganguly came under the all-rounder category. Agarkar though was more a bowler who could bat while Ganguly was a batter who could bowl seamers occasionally. Irfan Pathan was the closest, but his back did not allow him to use his skillset.

In recent years it has been all Hardik Pandya. Hardik Pandya stood in rare company, as a bowler who can hit the deck hard, touch 145ks and bat with maturity as we. When he was injured, replacements came in but none could deliver. Shivam Dube, Venkatesh Iyer and Vijay Shankar were considered but none of them could match his impact with the ball.

This season though, Nitish Kumar Reddy comes in and he is showing that he could be the one to support Hardik Pandya. His first experience of the IPL wasn’t a great one. Misfielding a delivery from Bhuvneshwar Kumar is where it started. He got two games last season, did not bat and bowled 5 wicketless and expensive overs.

He’s had a lot more chances this year. Coming in at four, Nitish Reddy has shown maturity with the bat, and temperament. On the field, the misfield is far behind. Sights of Nitish Reddy haring after the ball and diving around to save runs are very common with Reddy proving that he is the spiring chicken in the side. In his first chance to bat this season, Nitish Reddy reverse-swept Ravindra Jadeja and launched Deepak Chahar for six over long on.

He quickly showed that he can clear the fence against spinners. He proved that he is one to play the ball and not the bowler when he took on India’s best spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, without any hesitation. His intent has been clear and the outcome has worked well for the Sunrisers. With Nitish Reddy’s success, Sunrisers have been able to unleash Heinrich Klaasen in the death. Playing him at four has also allowed SRH to put in an overseas bowler in place of Aiden Markaram.

While Nitish Reddy has not been among the wickets much with the ball, he has given glimpses of what he can do. He bowls in the mid 130s and at 22 is still developing. He has a slower bouncer, can bowl a good yorker, and is showing that he can be a capable bowler and hard hitter if backed the right way. While his hard-hitting has already grabbed yes, Nitish Reddy’s bowling is what could interest the BCCI.

It is still early days but Nitish Kumar Reddy is definitely a name to watch. He’s having a good IPL and has also done his job in the domestic circuit. With the Indian team heading towards a transition in the coming years he could well be entering the BCCI radar.