Nitish Reddy blasts 7 sixes, makes grand entry in Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh's list with blistering knock vs Bangladesh
Nitish Kumar Reddy looked in sublime touch and smashed seven sixes and four boundaries and posted 74 runs off 34 balls.
Nitish Kumar Reddy announced his arrival on the international stage in an emphatic fashion with a brilliant half-century in his second T20I only. The 21-year-old stepped up on the occasion when India were in a tricky position with three early wickets inside the powerplay. Reddy showed great signs and batted patiently at the start of the innings to let the tough phase pass and broke free when he got the opportunity to face a free-hit as he didn't stop after that and smashed the Bangladesh bowlers all around the park. The right-handed batter shared a 108-run stand with Rinku Singh for the fourth wicket which put India on the top.
He displayed his ability to clear the boundary on will and smashed his maiden half-century off 27 balls. He looked in sublime touch and smashed seven sixes and four boundaries and posted 74 runs off 34 balls.
It was a knock of very high quality. He was not relying only on his power and also looked to find the gaps, which he managed to do quite effortlessly. The Bangladesh spinners looked clueless against him at one stage.
Most runs in an innings vs spin for an Indian batter in T20I
65 Abhishek Sharma vs Zim Harare 2024
57 Yuvraj Singh vs Pak Ahmedabad 2012
55 Ruturaj Gaikwad vs Aus Guwahati 2023
54 Virat Kohli vs Afg Dubai 2022
53 Nitish Reddy vs Ban Delhi 2024
He also became the fourth youngest Indian cricketer to smash a half-century in the shortest format.
Youngest at the time of maiden T20I 50+ score by an India
20y 143d Rohit Sharma 50* v SA Durban 2007
20y 271d Tilak Varma 51 v WI Providence 2023
21y 38d Rishabh Pant 58 v WI Chennai 2018
21y 136d Nitish Reddy 74 v Ban Delhi 2024
He didn't get many balls to show his skills in the series opener but still managed to make a small contribution with his 15-run unbeaten knock.
India vs Bangladesh 2nd T20I Live Score and Updates
Nitish grabbed everyone's attention with his all-around ability while playing for SRH, who finished as runner-up in IPL 2024. The Andhra youngster made his presence left in a start-studded SRH line-up with his explosive batting. The right-handed batter grabbed the limelight in the group stage match against Rajasthan Royals, where he scored a 42-ball 76 – a knock embellished with eight sixes, while he finished the season with 303 runs. He also picked three wickets with the ball.