Nitish Kumar Reddy

He bats in the top order and is a genuine medium fast seam bowler - a combination of qualities that have been rare to unearth in Indian cricket. But in Nitish Kumar Reddy, they might have just got their next seam bowling all rounder who could be a consistent feature in Indian cricket for the coming years across formats.

Hailing from Visakhapatnam, Nitish Kumar Reddy started playing cricket from the age of 5, and naturally excelled both as a batter and bowler. He was initially spotted by former Indian selector MSK Prasad during U12 and U14 state level tournaments in Andhra Pradesh, who encouraged Reddy to train at the Andhra Cricket Academy in Kadapa. Nitish Reddy’s breakthrough moment came in the 2016-17 Vijay Merchant Trophy, when he scored 441 runs off just 345 balls in a ball against Nagaland. Reddy was impressive with the ball as well, as he took 26 wickets and was the recipient of the ‘Best Cricketer in the U16 category.’

Nitish Kumar Reddy was picked at base price by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2023 IPL. He got just two games in his first season, but shone through next time around. In 2024, he got two fifties, striking at 142 and picked three wickets as well. Reddy was picked in the T20I squad shortly after, and scored a superb 74 against Bangladesh in his debut series. He demolished Rishad Hossain and Mehidy Hasan in that innings, earning a reputation as a spin basher. Nitish got a place in the Test squad as well, and made his debut at Perth. He got runs in both innings of a spicy deck, and got the important wicket of Mitch Marsh as well, impressing everyone Down Under with his fearless and confident brand of cricket.