PBKS vs SRH: Who is Nitish Reddy? 20-year-old hits maiden fifty in ...

20-year-old Nitish Kumar Reddy hit his maiden T20 fifty in his 4th Indian Premier League match as he repaid the faith shown in him by SunRisers in a sensational rescue act against Punjab in Mullanpur on Tuesday. On a day when big names, including Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram, failed to get going, the young all-rounder from Visakhapatnam tore into the Punjab bowling unit, hitting a 32-ball fifty which announced his arrival on the big stage.

Nitish Kumar Reddy left the world in awe with a hook shot against Kagiso Rabada, who was on fire after having gotten the opportunity to bowl with the new ball.

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Nitish walked into bat at No. 4 ahead of the likes of Heinrich Klaasen and Impact Player Rahul Tripathi. Punjab were reeling at 64 for 4 in the 10th over as Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran, and Harshal Patel jolted the top-order, removing big names cheaply.

However, Nitish Kumar Reddy started slow, assessing the conditions at the newly-built stadium. He was 11 off 14 and then 14 off 17 before he launched into left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar in the 11th over. Nitish hit a four and six off successive deliveries. In the very next over, Nitish hit the awe-inspiring shot against Rabada. The carnage did not stop there as he tore into Sam Curran. It was in the 15th over that Nitish flaunted his range as he hit 2 sixes and as many boundaries against Brar, taking the left-arm spinner to 21 runs in the over.

Nitish got to his maiden T20 fifty in style with a huge six. The 20-year-old all-rounder, who has been in good form for Andhra in domestic cricket, made 64 off 37 balls before getting out in the 17th over, becoming Arshdeep Singh's 4th victim on Tuesday.

Nitish had shown promise against Chennai in Hyderabad in their win over the Super Kings. He walked into bat No. 6 and smashed 14 from just 8 balls, hitting a six and a boundary in SRH's successful chase of 166.

India's Test specialist Hanuma Vihari had said in his social media post last week that Nitish has all the makings of becoming a superstar in cricket. Nitish has been playing with Hanuma for Andhra in domestic cricket.

Nitish Had played only 8 T20s before Tuesday, which included 2 IPL matches in 2023 in which he did not get an opportunity to bat.

Nitish idolises Hardik Pandya and Ben Stokes. Having opened the bowling and batting in age-group cricket, Nitish took the call to bat lower down the order when he transitioned to senior-level cricket, according to ESPNCricinfo.

Nitish Kumar Reddy scored 366 runs in 7 matches in the Ranji Trophy for Andhra, hitting a hundred and a fifty.

Nitish Kumar Reddy, who played for India B at the U19 level, has played 17 first-class matches, scoring 566 runs and 22 List A games, scoring 403 runs at an average of 36.63.

Nitish was bought at his base price of Rs 20 lakh by SRH after scouring him in IPL 2023 auction.

One of Nitish's most notable achievements is his performance in the Ranji Trophy, where he played primarily as a bowling all-rounder and contributed significantly with both bat and ball. In the 2023 season, Nitish took 25 wickets at an average of 18.76 and scored 366 runs at an average of 36.60.

Nitish Kumar Reddy did not miss an opportunity to click a photograph with his idol Virat Kohli in his first season in the IPL. He called his meeting with the RCB star 'unforgettable moment in his life'.