A New Beginning for Nitish Kumar Reddy
Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has spoken about the crucial role a “special person” played in helping him regain his rhythm with the ball during a challenging period of injuries. However, the young Indian international has chosen not to reveal the identity of this individual at this time.
Reddy, a 22-year-old who is seen as the future pace-bowling all-rounder of India, has faced significant fitness issues over the past year. A neck spasm followed by a left quadriceps injury in 2025 kept him sidelined at critical moments. These injuries hindered his bowling performance and were a major reason he missed out on a spot in the Indian squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup, where Shivam Dube was selected as the second seam-bowling all-rounder.
After securing the player of the match award against KKR, Reddy shared his thoughts on the challenges he has faced:
“It has always been a concern for me, and I wanted to work on my bowling, but injuries always got the better of me in the past year. That’s why I had no time to myself to work on the bowling. However, fortunately, I got some time before the season and spent a week working with a specific person, which really made a lot of difference in my bowling. His advice made perfect sense.”
When asked about this “special person,” Reddy simply smiled and said, “Will let you know at the end.”
A Match-Winning All-Rounder Show
Reddy demonstrated how a short spell with a mystery coach can significantly impact a bowler’s performance. In their IPL 2026 encounter against KKR at the Eden Gardens, he showcased his all-round abilities by scoring 39 off 24 balls and taking 2 wickets for 17 runs in his 2 overs.
When Reddy walked out to bat, SRH were struggling at 118 for 4 after a collapse. However, he formed an important 82-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Heinrich Klaasen (52), bringing SRH back into the game and powering them to a strong total. This was supported by a solid start from their opening pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma.
Reddy was a smart bowler on the field, using the conditions to his advantage to take key breakthroughs. He came on to bowl in the middle overs and picked up wickets like Rinku Singh with a slower ball.
Insights from the Pitch
Reddy shared his approach to taking the wicket of Rinku Singh:
“Honestly, when I was batting, I found the wicket to be quite two-paced. When the bowlers try to bowl slow bouncers, they stick at times and other times they go rushing to the batter. Therefore, I decided to use my slower ones, and Rinku’s wicket with a faster one, that rushed to the batsman and made him edge it, resulted due to my slower ball. Slower one is one of my strengths, and I decided to make the best use of it.”
Regarding the bowling plan adopted by SRH, Reddy explained that they opted to use spinners more because the pace bowlers were being punished by the KKR batters at the top of the order in the powerplay.
“Because the KKR pacers were leaking runs at the opening and middle overs in the powerplay, we decided to opt for spinners in the middle overs. We respected the pitch and modified our strategy according to it.”
Batting with Experience
Reddy also praised Heinrich Klaasen, highlighting the enjoyment of batting with an experienced player who reads the match situation accurately.
“I have enjoyed a lot batting with Klaasen as he is an experienced player and reads the game well at whatever situation the team is at.”
Confidence in the Bowling Unit
Defending SRH’s bowling unit, Reddy emphasized that they have capable bowlers like Jaydev Unadkat, Ehsan Mallinga, and David Payne in their side, and that it is not something considered a weakness for SRH.
“We do have experienced bowlers like Jaydev Unadkat and Ehsan Mallinga at our disposal who are performing well, along with David Payne. Therefore, I don’t think our bowling attack is that bad.”
With this all-round performance from Nitish Kumar Reddy, SRH thrashed KKR by 65 runs and finally opened their account in IPL 2026.
