“As a Telugu speaker…”: SRH star Nitish Reddy becomes first player from Andhra Pradesh to be retained in IPL

On being revealed as the fifth capped retention by Sunrisers Hyderabad on IPL 2025 Retention Day, India all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy expressed his gratitude towards the franchise for their early support and said that he is grateful for the trust placed in him by the franchise. Are dedicated to. Fast bowling all-rounder Reddy was bought by SRH for Rs 20 lakh in the auction ahead of the 2023 IPL season. But he excelled in IPL 2024 and won the Emerging Player of the Season award for scoring 303 runs at a strike rate of 143 and taking three wickets with his bowling.

With Reddy being retained for Rs 6 crore, this is the first time that an Andhra Pradesh player has earned an IPL retention ahead of the auction. The retention also means that Reddy's IPL salary has seen a staggering 2900% increase.

“Playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad fills me with pride. As a Telugu speaker, I am proud to represent my region while playing for the team in the IPL. People in Hyderabad also like me, because they say That a Telugu player played very well.” Good for the Hyderabad team and he was there when they reached the final (in IPL 2024).”

“The price doesn't matter because I'm motivated to perform and help my team win. Sunrisers Hyderabad supported me in the beginning and now I'm looking forward to repaying that trust,” Reddy said in an exclusive interview with IANS from Mackay. “Committed to.” , Australia, where India A is playing the first four-day match against Australia A.

Reddy's performance in his debut IPL season included playing two matches, bowling five wicketless overs and not getting any opportunities to bat. Strong performances in IPL 2024, notably a knock of 64 against Punjab Kings and an unbeaten 76 against Rajasthan Royals, earned Reddy his debut for India in the T20Is against Bangladesh, following which he was given a Test call-up for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Got instant entry into the team.

Reddy believes that playing in the IPL has brought a big change in his life. “Everything has changed rapidly. Like from nowhere to something in a year, I really feel that IPL is a big platform where my talent came to the fore and now everyone knows me and I am very happy that I Did well here.” ,

Extensive preparation and planning in the 2023 SRH camp helped Reddy improve his power-hitting game. Reddy made sure to practice facing fast bowlers bowling at over 140 by using side-armers on his return to the Andhra team. He also relies on his shadow practice exercises with the bat, which he claims has helped him improve his downswing.

“After that year, I worked so hard on my batting that I could play comfortably against 145-150 kmph fast bowlers, timing my shots and hitting them hard. Then I realized that those bowlers It is comparatively easy to adapt to facing batsmen who bowl at 120-130 kmph and that is how everything changed for me.”

“For the last two years I have been working on my downswing through shadow exercises. It is not so easy to do it for 10-15 days. For a month you will get the thing right. But it must be done consistently, Because then the results will come automatically. I have done that work for two years and now you can see everything in the results.”

Reflecting on IPL 2024, Reddy recalls heart-warming memories of his father Mutyala singing with joy after his brilliant innings of 64 runs off 37 balls led SRH to a dramatic one-run win in Mullanpur. Embraced him with tears.

In 2016, Mutyala was working with Hindustan Zinc Limited in Visakhapatnam and was to be transferred to Udaipur, Rajasthan. But to focus on building Reddy's cricket career, Mutyala took early retirement from his valuable government job to stay at home.

“When they took this decision, everyone opposed us because there is a certain respect attached to a person with a government job. But once you don't have a government job, people treat you very differently and I Saw this. Back then, I was just playing for fun, but seeing this made me want to take cricket seriously.

“Wherever I went to play a match, my father would travel with me, like Anantapur or somewhere else. He would come with me, get a room to stay, and when there were no bowlers, he would bowl at me. Used to throw.” With my hands so I can practice my batting. I still remember everything my father did for me to become what I am.”

The atmosphere in Mullanpur that day was filled with excitement as Reddy's batting skills enthralled the crowd, symbolizing the success of Mutyala's sacrifice since 2016 to realize his son's dream.

“I saw how happy he was in this IPL, and how much he was enjoying watching me play. A lot of the people watching in the stands went crazy for me and were chanting my name, and he enjoyed seeing it all. I was eagerly waiting for that moment to perform well in the IPL so that my father felt very happy and proud. After that game I finally felt that I was making him proud.

For Reddy, the real joy of playing cricket lies in the memories of his carefree childhood days spent on the field. “For me, whenever you play cricket, you should not feel that you should take pressure or anything like that. You should just enjoy being in the game, because that is how everything started for me.”

Another source of joy for him in cricket is to execute a perfectly connected reverse-sweep, even if those close to him do not share the same sentiment.

During the game between SRH and Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 20, Reddy executed a remarkable wrist reverse-sweep off a 116 kmph ball from Kuldeep Yadav that stunned everyone.

“I like to play the reverse-sweep, even if there are a lot of people around, – the team management, mother, father and guru told me that whenever you play a reverse-sweep shot, we get a heart attack.”

“But I really enjoy playing that shot, and I don't plan on playing that shot before that. It comes into effect immediately – when it connects, I really enjoy and even “When it goes for six I really enjoy it a lot,” he said. Concluded.