Nitish Kumar Reddy, a young Indian all-rounder, impressed during IPL 2024 as part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad team. In 13 matches, the 21-year-old scored 303 runs and took three wickets, earning him the Emerging Player of the Year award and a call-up to the Indian squad for the T20I series against Zimbabwe.
During a recent interaction with ESPNCricinfo, Reddy revealed his admiration for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and its star players. “I’ve been a huge fan of RCB for the last 10 years. I really admire Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers,” Reddy said. “In 2023, I had the chance to meet Virat Kohli. I didn’t have much to ask him; I just wanted to shake his hand and get his autograph.”
Reddy also shared his experience from IPL 2024, where he hoped to impress Kohli. “I was hoping to play well against RCB so that Virat Kohli would notice my game. Though I didn’t get to bat in that match, he remembered my name during the post-match handshake. That meant a lot to me,” he added.
As a medium-pace bowling all-rounder, Reddy looks up to Hardik Pandya and Ben Stokes. He recounted a memorable message from Pandya: “Hardik Bhai sent me a message saying the intent and energy I was giving on the field were good and to keep respecting the game. He said we would talk soon. I was shocked to see his message after the IPL season, especially since he was busy with World Cup duties.”
Reddy’s future looks bright as he is likely to be retained by SRH ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.
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