Lucknow Super Giants in action during the Indian Premier League (IPL)© BCCI

Andhra Pradesh and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy opened up on the emotional moment when he received his Indian jersey last month and how much it meant to him considering that his father risked his own career for sake of his son’s cricket. Nitish was called-up to the Indian squad after a solid Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season with SRH, for the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. Though he could not play due to a sports hernia injury, he has created an impression strong enough to be considered for future series with a ‘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 Duleep Trophy.

Reddy recalled that when he received his Indian kit, the people who often ridiculed and questioned his father for risking his career to help his son become a player, also got very emotional. In 2016, when Nitish was 13 years old, his father Mutyalu, working for Hindustan Zinc Limited in Visakhapatnam, was to be transferred to Jodhpur, but he decided to quit in order to focus on his son, who had been picked by the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) for district trials. He instead started his own business, which did not do well and everyone started to taunt him, including his extended family.

“Fame is a funny thing. After the IPL, the same people who told my father how he was foolish to risk his career for me started praising him for his foresight. I remembered they got emotional when my India kit arrived,” said Nitish, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

“He quit and invested the corpus he received into a microfinance business in Vizag [Visakhapatnam]. But unfortunately, when the business did not do well, our own extended family, society – everyone else started taunting him for his decision. As much as he tried not to let that filter through to me, eventually he could not help it.”

“I saw how people’s attitudes towards him changed from when he had a job to after he quit. They would disrespect him, he would be ignored.”

“I could not take it. That spurred my motivation to give it my all, because my father had given up everything for me. Until then, I had played for fun, but from there on, everything changed,” Nitish concluded his point.

The 13-year-old left home to move 700 km to a residential academy of ACA, where he attended middle school and trained. He learned the basics of fast bowling there under local coaches. Nitish recalled that when he had joined the academy, his bowling was no good and he used to “throw”.

“Only after I began regular training, I understood biomechanics, how your action impacts different parts of your body, and I worked on correcting it,” he added.

Nitish started making waves Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy when he scored a triple ton against Tamil Nadu and 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.

But these early successes turned out to be a false dawn as he admitted being “carried away” by his success and flopped in the U19 level.

“I thought I was naturally good. Everyone spoke highly about my technique, and I was flying. The following year, when I graduated to U-19s and flopped, I initially brushed it aside, thinking it was a bad patch. But when I had a second bad season, it gave me a reality check,” he added.

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.

“I quickly understood that if in the age group I got two loose balls in an over, in first-class, I would get two in a session. I learned a lot quickly.”

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.

Nitish said that ahead of IPL 2023, his bowling was better than his batting. He was asked to stay ready for game time by the team management, but he just could not fit into the squad, he added.

“At the Asia Cup too, when I was in the XI, our top order did so well that I could not get a chance in the first three games. In the fourth game, when I was left out, everyone batted. It was on live TV, and it stressed me out quite a lot that I missed a chance. I wondered if Sunrisers would even retain me,” he added.

Nitish faced another setback when he injured his ankle that year, ruling him out of an all-important Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy which could have decided his fortunes for next year’s IPL. The all-rounder recalled being so dejected that he did not even go to the ground even when he regained full fitness.

But one day, he called up ACA and arranged for himself a net practice session against fast bowlers to show everyone that he belonged to the top order while batting. By the time 2024 came and it was time for the IPL, Nitish had developed a solid game against pace, which impressed the SRH skipper and Australian superstar Pat Cummins.

“Then one day, I just called up ACA and requested them to help arrange a few side-armers who would hurl the ball [to me] at 140 clicks from 18 yards. I did not want anyone to tell me I am a lower-order batter. I wanted to show I have it in me to bat in the top order.”

“They bowled bouncers. I got hit everywhere initially, but I told myself: come what may, I am going to face up and fight, build character and develop that no-defeat attitude. I continued this routine whenever I was training back home. That is perhaps why, coming into IPL 2024, I felt so confident playing at a proper pace. In the nets when Pat Cummins saw me react to pace, he was very impressed,” he added.

IPL 2024 Emerging Player of the Year Nitish Kumar Reddy has said that he is preparing to perform in the “Hardik Pandya-role” for Team India in the near future. After amassing 303 runs in the IPL at a strike-rate of 142, Reddy was set to make his debut in India’s post-T20 World Cup tour to Zimbabwe, but had to pull out at the last minute due to an injury. However, the Sunrisers Hyderabad star is certain that he will make his India debut soon.

“There’s a chance I’ll get to play at no. 7 or no. 6, most likely a Hardik Pandya role. I’m flexible to bat wherever I’m asked to, but as of now I’m preparing for the role that Hardik Pandya is playing,” said Reddy.

Reddy has showcased his ability as both a batsman, and lately as a handy pace bowler, and recently became the most expensive player in the Andhra Premier League.

The 21-year-old showed maturity beyond his years, and was realistic about the chances he would get in the India setup.

“If you ask me to open, I’ll open as well. In the near future, I won’t be getting the chance at the top order because there are more experienced players,” said Reddy. “I have to adapt to whatever role I’ll get, and I’ve been prepared to adapt this way by domestic cricket,” he added.

Reddy was selected for the five-T20I Zimbabwe tour alongside a bunch of new faces, in a side that will be led by Shubman Gill.

“I’m happy that there is a progression for youngsters who are performing well. After Rohit bhai (Rohit Sharma), Virat bhai (Virat Kohli) and Jaddu bhai (Ravindra Jadeja)’s retirements, there will be opportunities for youngsters. We need to grab them,” said Reddy.

At just 21, Reddy already has the world at his feet, and expressed delight to become a brand ambassador for Puma, the same brand as his idol, Virat Kohli.

“My inspiration is Virat Kohli, so I’m really proud to be a part of Puma. Puma really supported me through the IPL, and the greatest thing is that they’re providing opportunities to youngsters like myself and Riyan Parag,” Reddy said.

Nitish Kumar Reddy is expected to be retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of next year’s mega auction, after a successful IPL 2024.

New Zealand bowler Lockie Ferguson praised the bowling conditions at Brian Lara Stadium after his historic spell of 4-4-0-3 against Papua New Guinea in the T20 World Cup amidst the disappointment of an early exit from the T20 World Cup. Ferguson’s performance was nothing short of magical as he registered the most economical bowling figures in the history of the ICC T20 World Cup, and became only the second bowler in T20Is to bowl 24 dot balls without conceding a run.

His sensational spell was instrumental in restricting PNG to a mere 78 runs, with every New Zealand bowler chipping in to take wickets.

Reflecting on the match, Ferguson appreciated the challenging nature of the wicket. “Yeah, no, no runs today. But yeah, look, obviously a tough wicket to bat on. Coming from the IPL, where there were a lot of runs being scored, it’s nice to have a wicket like that for a change,” he said in a video posted by the ICC on their social media.

The bowler acknowledged that such days are rare and cherished the opportunity to exploit the conditions. “It was just one of those days. You could see when our boys went on it as well. So I guess from a bowling point of view, nice to be able to bowl on wickets like that. But I can’t see it happening too many times.”

Despite his personal success, Ferguson was candid about the team’s premature exit from the tournament. He expressed his disappointment while also praising his teammate Trent Boult, who played his final T20 World Cup match.

“Look, I love playing for New Zealand. I’m just really disappointed we got knocked out the way we did. But at the same time, really enjoyed playing with this group of guys. Obviously, Boulty (Trent Boult) with his last game today. It’s going to be sad not having him with the group, but it’s been an incredible career and certainly been nice to sort of follow him in every game. So, I wish him all the best,” he said.

Ferguson’s sentiments reflected a bittersweet moment for the team as they bid farewell to Boult, a stalwart of New Zealand cricket. “It’s a tough one. Now we’re sort of going apart as a team for a few months. So, naturally, you’re gonna miss your good mates and look forward to touching base later in the year,” he said.

New Zealand chased down the modest target set by PNG with ease, reaching 79-3 within 13 overs.

The first batch of Indian cricketers, including skipper Rohit Sharma, on Saturday departed for United States ahead of the T20 World Cup beginning on June 2. Apart from Rohit, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, top-ranked T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav, head coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour and few other players left from Mumbai airport. Other players in the travelling contingent include Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel among others.

VIDEO | Visuals of Indian cricket team leaving for USA from Mumbai for the upcoming T20I World Cup.

The T20I World Cup 2024 will be jointly hosted by the USA and the West Indies from June 2 to June 29. The Indian cricket team will begin its campaign against Ireland from June 5…. pic.twitter.com/h6vhK6OhS0

– Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 25, 2024

Few players, including star batter Virat Kohli, who are part of the IPL teams which reached the playoffs, are yet to leave for the T20 showpiece.

The wait is over.

We are back!

Let’s show your support for #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/yc69JiclP8

– BCCI (@BCCI) May 25, 2024

While Rajasthan Royals had beaten Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Eliminator on Wednesday, they suffered a loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2 on Friday night.

SRH will face Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.

Thus, players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal have not joined the team yet.

The T20 World Cup will be jointly hosted by the USA and the West Indies from June 2 to June 29.

The Indian cricket team will begin its campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the newly constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.

India will face Pakistan on June 9, followed by matches against co-hosts USA (June 12) and Canada (June 15) in their Group A matches.

India had won the inaugural edition way back in 2007 in South Africa.

Batting at a strike rate of 209.41 this IPL season, Abhishek Sharma on Sunday received the biggest compliment of his life when premier pacer Pat Cummins said he wouldn’t like to bowl at the explosive left-hander as “it’s scary”. In the ongoing edition of the league, Abhishek has put fear in the minds of bowlers, including Cummins, his skipper at Sunrisers Hyderabad. He blazed away to a 28-ball 66 in SRH’s four-wicket win over Punjab Kings. The young left-hander hit six sixes and five fours as SRH shot down Punjab Kings’ target of 215 with five balls to spare.

“He (Abhishek) is amazing. I wouldn’t want to bowl to him. It’s scary as he plays with freedom, not only against pacers but also against spinners,” the Australian fast bowler said at the post-match presentation.

The 23-year-old, who represents Punjab at domestic level, has been in phenomenal form this season, aggregating 467 runs from 13 matches at a strike rate of nearly 210 while hitting 39 sixes and 35 fours.

Cummins also hailed Nitish Reddy who made a crucial 25-ball 37 while batting at No 4.

“Nitish is a class player, matured beyond his age, seems to sum up the game really well, he is perfect for our top-order,” he said.

“It has been great and amazing. I didn’t know many guys coming into this season, but we have played great cricket and had some fun. Great bunch of guys,” Cummins added.

The win kept SRH on course for a top-two finish that will give them an extra opportunity to make the final.

“We have won five out of seven matches here, it has been great and amazing. It’s really satisfying and exciting. I haven’t played in finals before, we are playing some really good cricket, excited for what’s ahead,” Cummins said.

Lara’s batting tips helping me: Abhishek

Abhishek said he has benefitted a lot after working with batting great Brian Lara, who was involved with the franchise in the past.

“I have done some work with him, he’s in touch. That’s helping me now,” Abhishek said.

His fifty came off 21 balls, the slowest of the three half-centuries he has made this season, summing up his belligerence.

Abhishek’s previous two fifties came off 16 balls versus Mumbai Indians and 19 balls against Lucknow Super Giants.

“My days are going good so I should utilise it for my team. I wanted to contribute as the target was big today.

“I think I have told this before, during Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy I was clear how I was going to play and dominate in the IPL.

“I’m just waiting for the loose balls, I am going hard against them and trying to put them (bowlers) under pressure,” Abhishek added.

Punjab Kings (PBKS) pacer Harshal Patel levelled with Australian pacer Andrew Tye to become the player with the highest number of wickets for the franchise in a single Indian Premier League (IPL) edition on Sunday. Harshal accomplished this feat against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their final league stage game. In the game, Harshal took 2/49 in four overs, at an economy rate of over 12. He took wickets of Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

In the ongoing season, Harshal has taken 24 wickets at an average of 19.87 and an economy rate of 9.73, with the best bowling figures of 3/15. He is the leading wicket-taker this season, but he would not have any more opportunity to add to his tally since his team is not in the playoffs.

Andrew Tye (24 wickets in the 2018 edition), Kagiso Rabada (23 in the 2022 edition) and Shami (20 in the 2020 edition) have taken the joint-highest, second-highest and third-highest number of wickets in a single IPL for Punjab, respectively.

Coming to the match, PBKS won the toss and elected to bat first. A hard-hitting half-century from Prabhsimran Singh (71 in 45 balls, with seven fours and four sixes) and knocks from Rilee Rossouw (49 in 24 balls, with three fours and four sixes) and Atharva Taide (46 in 27 balls, with five fours and two sixes) set the tone for a big total, taking PBKS to 214/5 in their 20 overs.

T Natarajan (2/33) was the pick of the bowlers for SRH.

In the run-chase, after losing Travis Head for a duck, Abhishek Sharma (66 in 28 balls, with five fours and six sixes), Nitish Kumar Reddy (37 in 25 balls, with a four and three sixes) and Heinrich Klaasen (42 in 26 balls, with three fours and two sixes) played fiery knocks to propel SRH to 215/6 in 19.1 overs, winning the game with five balls left.

Arshdeep Singh (2/37) was the pick of the bowlers for PBKS.

Abhishek Sharma was the Player of the Match for his quickfire fifty.

SRH is at number two in the points table, with eight wins, five losses and a no result, with 17 points. PBKS is at the ninth spot with five wins, nine losses and 10 points.

File photo of MS Dhoni.© BCCI

File photo of MS Dhoni.© BCCI

Contrary to popular opinion, the much debated ‘Impact Player’ rule has proved to be a bigger nightmare for bowlers compared to the all-rounders, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed said on Friday. Shahbaz has played 12 games this season, scoring 186 runs at a strike-rate of 138 plus but his primary skill which is believed to be left-arm spin hasn’t provided rich dividends with only three wickets coming his way, that too at a below-par economy rate of 10.60.

“Now every team has in total 9 batters, an all-rounder and eight batters. Also the teams look for players, who can strike big from ball one and carry on the momentum till the end. The ‘Impact Player’ rule has affected bowlers more than all-rounders because this gives batters the cushion to play freely,” Shahbaz told PTI videos.

According to Shahbaz, the teams didn’t really understand how to use an ‘Impact Player’ during the inaugural season and as every team got a hang of it, even anchors during batting innings is starting to become obsolete.

“The teams didn’t know much about how to use it (Impact Player) last season. The all-rounders have a reduced role, which means they are getting lesser chance to bowl unlike earlier times when they used to bowl four overs.

“A lot of all-rounders are facing this. now they get to bowl one or two overs, this is true, this is visible to everyone, but I think, the batters who used to anchor games, has also gone down significantly.”

Cummins created pressure-free environment

The Bengal all-rounder was all praise for skipper Pat Cummins, who has been instrumental in keeping the SRH dressing-room stress free which has certainly shown on the on-field performance. SRH have already qualified for the last four stage with 15 points.

“If I talk about myself whenever Pat throws the ball to me, he always backs me. This sort of helps me to soak in pressure well and even if the ball goes to the boundary, he doesn’t say anything and keeps motivating all bowlers.

“He and the coach (Daniel Vettori) have created such an environment that no player in the camp ever feels that there’s any sort of pressure. The players are playing freely, we enjoy playing under his captaincy and that has what helped us to perform well”.

A lesser known fact about Shahbaz is that legendary Virat Kohli gifts him one of his bat every season.

“Virat’s bat is by far the best in terms of quality. His bat has the right balance and the ping is fabulous. In every IPL season, he has gifted me a willow. His bat really holds high value for me.”