The all-rounder from Andhra received a maiden call-up following a stellar IPL season playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The best fruits will always be there if you stay off the branch. It is almost certain that Mutyala Reddy thought this when he quit his position at Hindustan Zinc and dedicated his life to his son’s journey to the top of the cricket world. The dispute and, of course, the constant mocking from neighbours and family members commenced at that point. Though the goal was far away and the danger was great, SRH star cricketer senior Reddy understood exactly where his son’s future lied.
The day arrived at last for Mutyala’s son, Nitish Kumar Reddy, to finally make his debut for the Indian team after many years of determination, sacrifice, and tireless work. The Andhra all-rounder made his first appearance on the cricket field during the time he played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League 2024. But how harsh can life really be? A hernia ache hindered him from competing for his country, India, just a few days after he had been placed on the national team for the trip to Zimbabwe.
Nitish Reddy was just 8 years old when his father, who had been posted in Rajasthan, decided to step down from his government job and return to Andhra in order to encourage his son’s goals. Senior Reddy knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but he put his son’s future and dreams ahead of his own.
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The 21-year-old’s IPL heroics for Sunrisers Hyderabad this year, during which he amassed 303 runs in 11 innings (mainly in the middle order) at a strike rate of 143 and bagged three wickets with his lively seam-ups, helped him get quickly appointed into the national squad. In the same vein, the middle-order batter revealed how his attitude had helped him get the spot in the SRH, as well as how Pat Cummins was impressed with his performance in the nets, which allowed him to get the spot in the playing XI.
“They bowled bouncers. I got hit everywhere initially, but I told myself: come what may, I’m going to face up and fight, build character and develop that no-defeat attitude. I continued this routine whenever I was training back home. That’s perhaps why coming into IPL 2024, I felt so confident playing proper pace. In the nets when Pat Cummins saw me react to pace, he was very impressed,” Reddy says during our hour-long meeting in Bengaluru.
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