The Indian Premier League, over the years, has been a springboard for young talents, with relatively lesser known players turning into overnight stars with noteworthy performances. The ongoing IPL 2024 is no different, and has witnessed a number of youngsters emerging from obscurity. More importantly, be it Mayank Yadav or Sameer Rizvi or Shashank Singh, the list is dominated by uncapped Indians, proving their mettle on the grand stage.

The latest addition to that elite list is Nitish Kumar Reddy, whose all-round skills helped Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) overcome a late scare from Punjab Kings in a narrow 2-run win at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Tuesday.

Three games old in the IPL and with just 14 runs from one innings, the 20-year-old from Visakhapatnam may have initially found himself a misfit among the constellation of stars in the SRH dug-out, comprising the likes of World Cup heroes Travis Head and Pat Cummins, and the South African pair of Aiden Markram and Henrich Klaasen.

With the SRH top order going all guns blazing, the youngster never really got a chance to showcase his potential until Wednesday’s affair when Arshdeep Singh and Co pegged the visitors back with three early jolts, that included the wickets of Abhishek Sharma, Head and Markram with mere 39 runs on the board.

Promoted as the makeshift No.4 ahead of Klaasen and and impact substitute Rahul Tripathi, Reddy gracefully accepted the challenge and began the repair work with a couple of boundaries against left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar before smiting Kagiso Rabada and Sam Curran for three sixes in the space of three deliveries. Later, he deposited Brar twice in the stands and struck as many fours to milk 20 runs from the over to propel the visitors to 182 for 9, and end with a brilliant counter-attacking 64 off 37 deliveries.

He also chipped in with three overs of medium pace, merely four years after taking up bowling seriously. His maiden IPL wicket came off a slower bouncer to dismiss Jitesh Sharma.

“Invest in him. He’s the next big thing, not just in franchise cricket. Batter who can bowl medium pace. Rare commodity,” India batter Hanuma Vihari tweeted after his former domestic teammate saved the day for the SRH.

Record breaker in age-group cricket

During the 2017-18 season, Nitish scripted a new record in the Vijay Merchant Trophy, slamming 1,237 runs at a jaw-dropping average of 176.41 — the highest in the history of the tournament. He belted a triple hundred, two centuries, two half centuries and topped it all by cracking 441 against Nagaland, to earn the ‘Best Cricketer in the Under-16 category’ by the BCCI at the annual award function in 2018.

All this while he was earning accolades as a pure batter, Nitish gradually decided to take his bowling seriously, and came up with decent returns to eventually earn the faith of the Andhra selectors in 2020. Since 2021, his all-round abilities raised his stocks as a regular across formats in domestic circuit, and has returned with 25 wickets each from the last two Ranji Trophy seasons. In the recently-concluded Ranji Trophy season, Nitish ended up as the highest wicket-taker for Andhra during their quarterfinal finish.

Nitish’s father, Mutyala quit his job outside Visakhapatnam to support his son’s cricket, and the hardships are gradually bearing fruit. “NKR- comes from a humble background. His father left his job for his career, he guided him and nurtured him. His hard work has paid dividends and I’ve seen him when he was 17 years old. Proud of him of how he’s grown as a player. Asset for SRH in India in the future,” commented Vihari on his former teammate.

This is Nitish’s second season in the IPL, after a rather ordinary outing in the two games in 2023 where he did not get a chance to bat. In the ongoing edition, he has already proved himself twice with the bat, the first when he hit a winning six against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their previous game, and then anchoring the innings against Punjab Kings, besides taking a wicket.

If Reddy can have a decent IPL, he could be in the radar of the national selectors as such seam-bowling all rounders are a ‘truly rare commodity’ in Indian cricket.