Nitish Kumar Reddy has embraced greater prominence with the ball for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Having bowled just 23.1 overs in the previous three editions of the tournament, he has already delivered 13 overs in six games in 2026.
The 22-year-old has made breakthroughs with the new ball, and also chipped in during the death overs. He has done all of this at quicker speeds, having worked with pace-bowling coach Steffan Jones prior to the season on consistently hitting the 140kph mark.
The all-rounder’s ascent came in for praise from SRH assistant coach James Franklin on Monday.
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“It’s great to see Nitish play the way he’s been playing so far in this IPL. Last year, he probably, by his own admission, didn’t quite play at the level that he would expect. It was a really good learning year for him. But we’ve seen him bounce back early in this edition and hopefully he can maintain that form throughout,” the former Kiwi cricketer observed.
“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. He’s in a really good frame of mind at the moment,” he added.
Franklin also urged for patience with the likes of Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain. Praful began his IPL career with a bang as he scalped four for 34 against Rajasthan Royals, but was then hammered for 60 runs in four overs by Chennai Super Kings.
“Praful will learn from every experience,” Franklin stated.
Published on Apr 20, 2026
