Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra hailed Nitish Kumar Reddy for his match-winning knock against Punjab Kings at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh on Tuesday.
Reddy scored a fine knock of 64 runs off just 37 balls with the help of four fours and five maximums. The 20-year-old played a key role in helping SRH post 182 runs on the board after they were put into bat by Shikhar Dhawan.
SRH were 100-5 after 13.1 overs but Reddy played a crucial knock and showed great maturity despite the lack of experience. In fact, SRH lost three wickets in the Powerplay overs but they were able to get back into the contest.
Reddy was bought by SRH for only INR 20 lakhs in the IPL 2024 mini-auction.
“The Hyderabad batting stumbled at the start. It seemed at one stage that even 150 might be difficult. However, Nitish Reddy. He was a net bowler with Chennai till last year and hit a six off the last ball to win the last match against Chennai and here also he scored runs and decent runs,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“The kid bats well. He has the might. In the first 15 years of this tournament, there were very few Indian finishers. That’s why whoever can finish, his price at the auction goes through the roof. However, now you can see players like Rahul Tewatia, Shivam Dube, Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma. You can keep Nitish Kumar Reddy also in the same list,” the former India opener added.
Furthermore, Chopra also lauded Abdul Samad, who played a good cameo of 12-ball 25 and added 50 runs with Reddy after Heinrich Klaasen was dismissed.
“Abdul Samad played a short knock but it was also important because you get a fighting total once you go past 180. The big names, whether it was Aiden Markram, Travis Head or Heinrich Klaasen, didn’t score runs but Indians in the Hyderabad team came to the fore,” he observed.
Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh registered fine figures of 4-29 in his quota of four overs. The renowned commentator hailed the left-arm seamer for his ability to move the ball both ways.
“There was help for the fast bowlers. It’s a decent-sized ground but it was an extremely flat pitch. However, there was help for the fast bowlers and the new ball swung. Arshdeep Singh has the ability to move the ball both ways and he showed that by doing it, and picked up four wickets,” he said (1:45).
Punjab Kings will next take on Rajasthan Royals at the same venue of Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh on Saturday.
