“I have seen him when he was 17 years old, proud of him” : Hanuma Vihari

Nitish Reddy grabbed the attention

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Nitish Reddy grabbed the spotlight with his scintillating batting performance during the IPL 2024 clash against Punjab Kings at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Tuesday, April 9.

Played brilliant innings against Punjab Kings

Reddy played his second match of his Indian Premier League (IPL) and made his arrival in the tournament with his brilliant knock of 64 off 37 balls at a strike rate of 172.97. His innings consisted of 4 fours and 5 sixes.

Scored when team needed

His knock was so crucial as Sunrisers Hyderabad were reeling at 39/3 and Nitish Reddy anchored the innings in the middle to help the visitors post a respectable total of 182/9. Interestingly, the 20-year-old was the only for SRH to score above 30 runs as the second-best was 25 by Abdul Samad.

Hanuma Vihari appreciated Reddy

Amid the applause and appreciation for the youngster’s knock, Nitish Reddy’s former Andhra Cricket teammate and Hanuma Vihari took to his X handle (formerly Twitter) to reveal his family background. Veteran cricketer said that Nitish’s father left his job to nurture his son to become a cricketer. Vihari added that Nitish Reddy is an asset for SunRisers Hyderabad and India in the future.

Official Tweet by Hanuma Vihari

“NKR- comes from a humble background. His father left his job for his career, he guided him and nurtured him. His hard work has paid dividends and I’ve seen him when he was 17 years old. Proud of him of how he’s grown as a player. Asset for SRH n India in the future!” Hanuma Vihari wrote on X.

Early Career

Nitish Reddy’s father, Mutalya Reddy, worked with Hindustan Zinc before he quit his job when he was transferred to Udaipur, to focus on his son’s cricketing career. The 20-year-old started playing cricket at the age of 5 with a plastic bat. With the support of his father, Nitish visited Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association (VDCA) camps and was taken under the wings of coaches Kumara swamy, Krishna Rao and Watekar.

MSK Prasad spotted him

Nitish Kumar Reddy’s talent was spotted by former Indian cricketer and BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad during age group level matches and picked him to train at Andhra Cricket Association academy in Kadapa under the guidance of Madhusudhana Reddy and Srinivasa Rao.

Got the game in 2018 Vijay Merchant Tournament

Nitish was first shot to fame when he played a brilliant innings of 441 off 345 balls against Nagaland in the 2017-18 Vijay Merchant Trophy. That season, the 20-year-old amassed 1237 runs at an astounding average of 176.41 and picked 26 wickets.

He is an all format player

Due to his record-breaking season, Nitish Kumar Reddy was bestowed upon with BCCI ‘Best Cricketer In The U-16’ Jagmohan Dalmiya Award for 2017-18 season. Nitish made his first-class debut for Andhra in the Ranji Trophy match against Kerala at Ongole in February 2020. Then, he received his maiden list to play for his state team against Vibarbha in Vijay Hazare Trophy at Indore in February 2021. Reddy made his T20 debut against Jammu and Kashmir at Vadodara in November 2021. In T20, Nitish has scored 170 runs, including a fifty, at an average of 34.00 in six innings.