Nitish Reddy starred with both bat and ball in India’s series-clinching 86-run victory over Bangladesh in the second T20I in Delhi on Wednesday (October 9).
Batting at No. 4, Reddy played a blistering knock of 34-ball 74. It was an eye-catching performance in what was just the second T20I of his international career.
His whirlwind innings, including with four boundaries and seven sixes, helped India reach a mammoth total of 221/9 on the board.
With the ball, Reddy returned with the figures of 2 for 23 in his four overs as the hosts restricted Bangladesh to 135/9 in 20 overs.
After the game, Nitish Reddy attributed his success to the captain-coach duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir as they gave him the licence to play fearless cricket.
"It feels great to represent India, I feel so proud about this moment. Grateful for everything. I should give credit to the captain and coach. They gave me the licence to play fearless cricket," Reddy said at the post-match presentation after receiving the Player-of-the-Match award.
Reddy's started off slowly but picked up pace after benefitting from a no-ball error by Bangladesh's Mahmudullah, which he smashed for a six off the free hit.
"I took my time initially, but after that no-ball everything went in my favor. It feels great to play for the Indian team. I want to continue in this same way. Want to keep repeating such good performances," he added.
Invited to bat first, the home team ended the powerplay on 45/3. However, the pair of Nitish Reddy and Rinku Singh (53 off 29) led India’s recovery with a superb partnership of 108 runs for the fourth wicket.
India skipper Suryakumar Yadav highlighted the importance of such situations for testing the middle-order batters.
"I wanted that situation, wanted my batters (5, 6, 7) in that situation. Happy for both (Rinku and Nitish) of them," Suryakumar said at the post-match presentation.
"They batted exactly the way I wanted. You got to go out there and express. The message has been loud and clear—do what you do in the nets, and franchises. Just the jersey changes, rest remains the same," he added.
Suryakumar Yadav also used the second T20I to assess the bowling lineup in various scenarios. "I wanted to see what different bowlers can do in different situations. Can they give me the difficult overs? Sometimes Hardik won't bowl, sometimes Washington Sundar won't bowl. I wanted to see what the other guys had in store, really happy with it. It was his (Nitish's) day, I thought let him enjoy it and make it large," he concluded.
With this victory, India took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The third and final T20I is slated to be held in Hyderabad on Saturday (October 12).
