“I have just one goal: to be the best all-rounder in the world”.

Young but media-trained cricketers rarely make big proclamations in India. Not Nitish Kumar Reddy. He’s got big dreams, and he wants to talk about them.

On Wednesday, when Nitish put on the India kit for only the second time, you understood why that confidence wasn’t misplaced. A six-filled 74 off just 34 balls against Bangladesh, after being promoted at 25-2, was the opening statement in his quest for his one, true goal. Nerveless from start to finish, he walked back to a standing ovation by his new family in the dugout.

He was 13 off 12 at one point, struggling to get any lift on his shots. But at no point did he look out of place, chewing at his gum ever so calmly before the hits unlocked.

The world might just now be taking notice, but Nitish is already an up-and-coming name in Andhra Pradesh. The plaudits have been pouring in since the 21-year-old was named the Emerging Player of IPL 2024.

“Now everyone recognises me,” Nitish says, happily describing the reception back home. “If I'm going out, I have to wear a cap, maybe a mask. Actually, everyone was really sweet to me and congratulated me, and wanted the best for my career. Telugu [native] fans are so excited about me, and I'm really happy making them proud.”

The fan pages have started rolling out too: he already had half-a-million followers on Instagram before his India debut, a number that would skyrocket after his Bangladesh knock.

 

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This year’s IPL will remain a watershed moment for Nitish. A virtual nobody (his two games from 2023 are easy to forget), Nitish managed to steal the spotlight in a season of run-fests for Sunrisers Hyderabad. The defining entry came during a rare top-order failure, leaving his side on 39-3 against Punjab Kings. Nitish, batting for the second time in his IPL career, smoked a 37-ball 64 against an all-international pace attack.

Nitish’s T20 batting is characterised by sweetly-timed, well-punched strokes; just like his words, the aerial hits carry an air of confidence in them. He likes to shuffle in his crease and engineer angles, and was regularly able to disrupt bowlers’ lengths in the IPL.

“Earlier, I didn’t have much power,” Nitish admits. “I was also thin, and didn't work out a lot. For the last two years, I have been working on it.”

At SRH, he worked closely with Heinrich Klaasen, understanding how to close out innings calmly, while also absorbing the technique of Klaasen’s famed backfoot punch off spinners.

To stay on top of the competition, along with power, Nitish has widened his batting arsenal to include everything there is.

“I know a lot of players don't play every shot perfectly, but I somehow have that ability. You name it: reverse sweep or stepping out or using the crease. I used to practise a lot on the ground and off it. I shadow practise almost everyday, working a lot on my downswing and reverse-sweeps.

“I would say I have every shot in cricket.”

Nitish harbours dreams of being the best, but at 21, he’s willing to embrace failure for the sake of growing. It’s a mindset he borrows from looking up to Virat Kohli and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“You have to fail at some point to learn. Success is not that good,” he says. “It just boosts your ego; you have to fail and you have to learn”.

Nitish found early success at the under-16 level for Andhra, and had a blockbuster Vijay Merchant Trophy in 2017/18, when he smashed 1,237 runs (still a record) at 176.71, including a headline-grabbing 441 against Nagaland, a triple century, and two centuries. It earned him the BCCI Young Player of the Year award, and brought him within yards of meeting the India team, and more importantly, his idol.

“I was nervous about receiving the award, and I was so excited to meet him [Kohli] as well,” Nitish recalls that night from 2018.

A young Nitish was left heartbroken when the bodyguards whisked Kohli away, but his attempt to get a photograph did not go unnoticed. “Anushka Sharma walked up to him and said: ‘Sorry, he’s busy with other things. Don’t mind. I’ll give you a selfie’. She was so nice to me.”

Years later, having racked up an enviable age-group resume, Nitish was certain he’d get to play alongside Kohli at RCB. “I went to the first trials, and they were so impressed. They wanted me to attend the second trial, but I couldn’t. RCB then went for someone else, but SRH were also interested in me. I thought it would be a clash”.

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Nitish remains thankful that SRH stuck with him. “For the past two years, I hadn’t been playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy due to injury . Yet, SRH saw my videos and saw my trials. No one knew me very well.”

This year, Nitish repaid the faith, and also crossed paths with his idol.

“I was waiting for him [Kohli] to give me an autograph. I always wanted to play against RCB and get his praise and appreciation.”

When SRH did play RCB, they cracked the highest-ever total in IPL history (287). Unlike his teammates, Nitish was bummed he couldn’t get to bat, and prove himself, wondering if Kohli would even recognise him at the post-match handshakes. To his shock, Kohli did the salutations.

“Oh, Nitish, Hi – how are you?”

“I was shocked,” Nitish remembers. “Maybe he would have seen some innings I played. His approach and greetings really made me feel so good. I really wanted to do well in the next RCB game, but I couldn’t. That’s the dream: to play a good knock against Virat bhai, hopefully next year”.

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On Wednesday, Nitish took on the new ball alongside Arshdeep Singh, both batting and bowling ahead of India’s premier all-rounder, Hardik Pandya. It’s tremendous growth for a cricketer, who, until eight years ago, couldn’t even bowl properly.

“I would chuck (throw). I did not know how to properly rotate my arm,” a smiling Nitish admits.

The bent arm did not deter him from bowling, even as the umpires pleaded with him not to.

“I used to bowl this inswing delivery, chucking the ball. A lot of umpires noticed it and they didn’t allow me, but I always wanted to bowl swinging deliveries. I did not care about pace at that time,” he recalls.

By 14, he was opening the bowling for Andhra Under-16s. With the red ball, he can go upwards of 135 kph, swinging the ball around while also using the bouncer to good effect.

India has always had a complicated relationship with pace-bowling all-rounders. Kapil Dev will forever be the yardstick, and Pandya’s had his own success, but there’s not much to look beyond. A few years ago, Irfan Pathan, the leader of the what-if tales, wistfully claimed he could have been India’s best.

“It’s really hard being a fast-bowling all-rounder”, Nitish says. “I don’t know how Hardik Pandya or Ben Stokes do it, but if you ask me, it’s really hard. You have to maintain that fitness in a season, which is really hard. You can’t hit the gym every day in a season because of matches and the tiredness you’re feeling. It’s really hard maintaining the shape you are in at present.

“You have to properly recover and follow a diet. Batsmen can make do with even small rests: they’re done with 45-minute practice sessions. It’s not like that for us. We have to bat for 45 minutes, then hardly get a five-minute rest, and then have to bowl again.

“It’s really hard for us, but at the same time, we’re match-winners.”

At SRH, Nitish was able to play under Pat Cummins, a mentor as good as any. He was used sparingly in a traditionally strong pace lineup, but still showed his astuteness through cutters and slower ones in a difficult season for bowlers.

“He never pressures you”, Nitish says of “cool” Cummins.

“While bowling, he’d give me a plan. If it didn’t work, I would go with another. It was all mutual understanding. He would then ask what I would want to do,” Nitish says. “I would then specify: say, a wide bouncer or a slower bouncer. He’d then tell me which of those options are the best, as I don’t have enough T20 experience.”

Just months later, having switched from orange to blue, Nitish is enjoying the backing of another captain. “I should give credit to the captain and coach,” he said after winning the Player of the Match award in only his second T20I. “They gave me the licence to play fearless cricket.”

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The path beyond will test him beyond limits, but Nitish is dead-set on grinding his way through, inspired by the rigour of Kohli and Ronaldo (not as much for his football than his relentless passion, Nitish clarifies). Aside from Stokes’ batting, he also looks up to AB de Villiers, and wishes to face Jofra Archer some day.

Nitish isn't merely a fan boy, but motivated to follow in those hallowed footsteps. For a talented 21-year-old who values failure and isn't swayed by success, Nitish’s self-running confidence is powering him through to his one-true goal.

“Anyone can say you have to be disciplined. But following that pattern is not easy... it's not easy hitting the gym everyday, no one likes to.

“But if you want to be at the top, you have to have that mentality. You have to be as strong as they are.”

Say hello to India’s new-gen cricketer: talented, driven and breaking age-old barriers.

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