Sunrisers Hyderabad, despite not firing at their best, find themselves in the top-four in the ongoing Indian Premier League. Even as the veteran pacers have struggled, injury concerns have sidelined several overseas players and Travis Head is yet to hit top gear, Sunrisers Hyderabad have still had different players step up at different moments across six games - even if it has yielded only three wins.
While the young bowling attack, comprising Ehsan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Shivang Kumar and Praful Hinge have had their moments, it is Nitish Reddy's all-round contribution that has quietly slipped the attention but been important in SRH's campaign this season.
The biggest highlight has been the way he has stepped up with the ball at various stages of the match - Powerplay, middle overs and death, often to fill in for the void left in SRH's bid to go all guns blazing with the bat. The most significant of those performances came against Chennai Super Kings in SRH's last encounter where they fell one bowler short and required the fifth bowler's quote to be fulfilled by all-rounders.
Reddy stood up to the challenge and returned figures of 2 for 31 from his four-over spell, bowling in the Powerplay as well as the death, as SRH defended their 194-run total by 10 runs. Reddy set the platform for SRH's win by dismissing Sanju Samson and Ayush Mhatre.
All of Reddy's four wickets this season have come while bowling the good length and the back of the length deliveries. He has also conceded only 77 runs in the 57 balls bowled on those lengths (economy rate of 8.1). He has been significantly less effective while going full or short.
James Franklin, SRH's assistant coach, heaped praise on Nitish's improvement as a cricketer, but added that there would be a need for him to remain consistent. "It's great to see Nitesh play the way he's been playing so far in this year's IPL," Franklin said on Monday, on the eve of SRH's clash against Delhi Capitals, in Hyderabad. "Last year he probably, by his own admission, didn't quite play at the level that he would expect out of himself. I think last year was a really good learning year for him.
"From a bowling point of view, he's fulfilled a couple of different roles, whether it's taking the new ball or coming in the middle, and he's been able to create some opportunities that have led to some wickets. The pace is definitely up from last year, and the way that he's planning his overs, the way that he's sequencing his balls to the different batters is really helping him. So his form is really encouraging for us at the moment. The challenge is to obviously try and maintain this form throughout a long tournament, but he's in a really good frame of mind at the moment."
But Franklin was also quick to note Reddy's contributions with the bat, even though they have largely been small cameos. A 13-ball 28 against Rajasthan Royals, a 24-ball 39 against Kolkata Knight Riders and a 33-ball 56 against Lucknow Super Giants. Most significantly, all these knocks came after his team had lost wickets in quick succession and needed to steady themselves through the middle overs. Despite the dual responsibility of having to steady and attack, he has scored his 136 runs this season at a strike rate of 160.
"He's been brilliant with the bat," Franklin noted. "We've seen the bounce back early in this year's IPL, and hopefully he can maintain that form throughout. That's the real challenge for him. He's played some real good cameos and been part of some very vital partnerships for us, particularly with Heinrich Klaasen."
