While his batting was brilliant, Nitish’s bowling would have pleased the team management more, for they have a solid all-rounder who can be equally good with both bat and ball.
Nitish Kumar Reddy churned out an all-round performance against Bangladesh in the second T20I in Delhi. From batting to bowling, he was fabulous in all departments and showed why he is touted as the next big thing in world cricket.
Firstly, he played a magnificent knock of 74 runs in 34 balls, including four boundaries and seven maximums, at a strike rate of 217.65. His team was reeling when he came to the crease, for they had lost as many as three wickets in the powerplay.
However, Nitish formed a fine partnership with Rinku Singh of 108 runs for the fourth wicket and put India back in the commanding position. They eventually finished with a massive 221/9 in the first innings – thanks to a counterattacking knock from Nitish.
Later, he also took two wickets with the ball while conceding only 23 runs in his four-over spell to restrict Bangladesh to a mere 135/9. In fact, he was the second-best bowler of his side, only behind Varun Chakravarthy, who took 2/19 in the game.
Nitish Kumar Reddy Reveals How Gautam Gambhir’s Advice Helped Him With His Bowling
While his batting was brilliant, Nitish’s bowling would have pleased the team management more, for they have a solid all-rounder who can be equally good with both bat and ball. Only Hardik Pandya has managed to do it consistently for the Men in Blue, which shows how difficult it is to do both roles well.
Nitish revealed that Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of the team, helped him to bowl better in the second innings. Gambhir asked him to think like a bowler while bowling and not look at himself as a batter who can bowl.
“To be honest, I should thank Gautam sir for this. He gave me a lot of confidence. He told me to believe in my bowling and told me ‘When you are bowling, you should think like a bowler. You should not think you are a batter who can bowl, you should consider yourself a bowler’. That somehow boosted me. I would like to thank Gautam for this,” exclaimed Nitish in a video by BCCI.
The 𝑮𝒐𝒅'𝒔 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏 that instilled motivation 😎
A special knock & Player of the Match performance to savour 🏆
Given Hardik’s injury issues, India must be relieved to see the rise of Nitish as an all-rounder. India have struggled to find a replacement for Hardik, and Nitish’s rise would have come as a solace.
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