Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan said Nitish Kumar Reddy could not grab his opportunities with both hands in IPL 2025 and he is going to hold the key in the upcoming season. Reddy scored 182 runs in 11 innings at an average of 22.75 and a strike rate of 118.95 in the previous season.
Moreover, Reddy could only take two wickets in three innings at an average of 23.50 and an economy rate of 9.40. The all-rounder has scored 485 runs in 28 IPL matches at an average of 28.53 and a strike rate of 132.88.
Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube Channel, “We saw that his numbers dropped compared to the previous year. In 2024, he scored more than 300 runs and had a good strike rate. But what happened last year? His runs almost halved to around 180, and his strike rate dropped to about 119. It is not like he was batting too low either. In about 7 out of 11 innings, he got opportunities around number four. So, he was unable to capitalize on those chances.”
Pathan said Reddy can be the glue in SRH’s batting unit if he can deliver the goods.
“If he performs his role well, I think he can act as the glue in this unit, which is otherwise very ultra-aggressive. It will be interesting to see how Hyderabad counters this challenge.”
Meanwhile, SRH is known to play in an ultra-aggressive manner and Pathan said Reddy will have a major role to play for the Orange Army in IPL 2026.
“SRH’s approach is ultra-aggressive. They have players who naturally play that way, one after another. Now, with Liam Livingstone coming in, you have about five such aggressive batters. Aniket Verma was also a big positive last year. So, all of them play with aggression. The question is whether Hyderabad can slightly control this ultra-aggressive approach and channel it into more controlled aggression. As I mentioned earlier, Nitish Kumar Reddy will have a very important role in this.”
The IPL 2026 season will begin with reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Ahmedabad, on March 28.
