On the day of IPL 2025 retention, Sunrisers Hyderabad emerged as the fifth cap-retainer, India all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy thanked the franchise for their early support and said that he Sources are dedicated to repaying the trust placed in them. Reddy, a fast bowling all-rounder, was acquired by SRH for Rs 20 lakh in the auction ahead of the 2023 IPL season. But he excelled in IPL 2024, scoring 303 runs at a strike rate of 143 and taking three wickets off his bowling, winning the Emerging Player of the Season award.

With Reddy retained for INR 6 crore, it also marks the first time a player from Andhra Pradesh has retained an IPL before the auction. The retention also means that Reddy’s IPL paycheck sees a staggering 2900% jump.

“Playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad fills me with pride. As a Telugu speaker, I am proud to represent my region while playing for the team in the IPL. The people of Hyderabad love me too, As they say a Telugu player plays very well. Good for the Hyderabad team and they were there when they reached the final (in IPL 2024).

Reddy told McKay in an exclusive interaction with IANS, “Cost doesn’t matter, because I am ready to perform and help my team win. Sunrisers Hyderabad supported me initially. , and now I am determined to repay that trust,” Reddy told McKay in an exclusive interaction with IANS. Australia, where India A is playing the first four-day match against Australia A.

Reddy’s performance in his inaugural IPL season featured two matches, bowling five overs without a wicket, and no chance to bat. Strong performances in IPL 2024, notably 64 against Punjab Kings and an unbeaten 76 against Rajasthan Royals, led Reddy to make his debut for India in the T20Is against Bangladesh, followed by border- Got an immediate entry into the Test team for the Gavaskar Trophy.

Reddy strongly believes that playing in the IPL has made a big difference in his life. “Everything has changed like wildfire. Like from nothing to nothing in a year, I really feel that IPL is a big stage where my talent came out and now everyone knows me and I I’m very happy that I did well here.”

Extensive preparation and planning in the 2023 SRH camp helped Reddy improve his power hitting game. On his return to the Andhra team, Reddy made sure to practice using side armours to face fast bowlers bowling at over 140. He also relies on his shadow practicing with the bat, which he claims has helped improve his downswing.

“After this year, I worked on my batting so much that I would be comfortable against fast bowlers hitting 145-150 kmph, timing my shots and hitting them hard. .Then I found out that these bowlers are relatively easy to bowl at 120-130 kmph and that’s how everything changed for me.

“For the last two years I have been working on my downswing through shadow practice. It is not that easy to do it for 10-15 days. By a month you will be fine. But it should be done consistently, As for now the results will come after I have done that for two years and the results you can see now show everything.”

Reflecting on IPL 2024, Reddy recounts heart-wrenching memories of his father, Mithila, hugging him with tears of joy after his brilliant 37-ball 64 at Milanpur, giving SRH a one-run lead. met with a dramatic victory.

In 2016, Mithila was working with Hindustan Zinc Limited in Visakhapatnam and was to be transferred to Udaipur in Rajasthan. But to focus on building Reddy’s cricket career, Mithila took early retirement from his prized government job to stay back home.

“When he took that decision, everyone turned to us because there is a certain dignity attached to a person in a government job. But once you don’t have a government job, people treat you so differently. And that’s what I saw. At the time, I was just playing for fun, but after seeing it, I realized that I should take cricket seriously.

“My father would go wherever I went to play a match, like Anantapur or somewhere. He would come with me, get a room to stay, and when there was no bowler, he would throw the ball at me. His own hands so I could practice my batting, I still remember everything my father did for me.

That day in Milanpur, the air buzzed with excitement as Reddy’s batting skills mesmerized the crowd, symbolizing Mithila’s sacrifice since 2016 to fulfill his son’s dream.

“I saw how happy he was in this IPL, and how much he was enjoying watching me play. A lot of people watching in the stands were going crazy for me and calling my name. , and he enjoyed watching all that came from him. Looking forward to this moment to perform well in the IPL so that my father would feel very happy and proud. Realized I was proud of them.

For Reddy, the real joy of playing cricket lies in the memories of his carefree childhood days spent on the field. “For me, whenever you play cricket, you should not feel that you should take pressure or anything like that. You should just enjoy being in the game, because for me everything is like that. began.”

Another source of joy for him in cricket is the perfectly aligned reverse sweep, although those close to him may not share the same sentiment.

During the game between SRH and Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on 20 April, Reddy took a stunning wrist reverse sweep from Kuldeep Yadav at 116 kmph, which surprised everyone.

“I love playing the reverse sweep even though there are a lot of people, – the team management, mom, dad and mentor told me that every time you play a reverse sweep shot we have a heart attack.”

“But I really enjoy playing that shot, and I don’t plan on playing that shot before myself. It comes immediately – I really enjoy when it connects and even I really enjoy it when it goes to six,” he concluded

(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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(Tags to Translate) Coach Nitish Kumar Reddy (T) Sunrisers Hyderabad (T) IPL 2025



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