Young all-rounder Nitish Reddy, who recently earned his maiden India call-up for the T20I series against Zimbabwe, opened up on receiving a text full of praise from Hardik Pandya despite the latter being on T20 World Cup 2024 duties.
Reddy caught everyone’s attention with his stunning exploits in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season, scoring 303 runs for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their journey to the final.
Reddy, who was ruled out of the Zimbabwe tour due to an injury, revealed that he was left stunned by a gesture from India’s ace all-rounder amid his busy T20 World Cup schedule.
"Hardik bhai sent me a message saying the intent and energy I was giving on the field was 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. Hardik Pandya and Ben Stokes are my inspirations for being an all-rounder. I replied, thanking him for his message," Reddy told ESPNCricinfo.
During the IPL 2024 season, Hardik Pandya was at the receiving end of fans' wrath for replacing Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians (MI) captain but he did not react until he turned it around for himself.
Hardik won over the fans again as he played an instrumental role in India’s T20 World Cup triumph last month. He defended 15 runs in the final over to script India’s tense seven-run victory over South Africa in the title clash at the Kensington Oval, Barbados.
Overall, Pandya claimed 11 wickets from eight innings and scored 144 runs from six innings in the global showpiece event. His best batting performance came against Bangladesh when he slammed 50* off 27 balls in the second Super 8 fixture.
On a separate note, Nitish Reddy expressed his admiration for Virat Kohli and also shared his experience of meeting the RCB star while playing in the IPL.
"I really admire Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. I’ve been a huge fan of RCB for the last 10 years. 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. In 2024, 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," the 21-year-old remarked.
