IPL 2024: ​​Nitish Reddy becoming one of my favourite players – Shane Watson hails SRH youngster

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson lauded Nitish Kumar Reddy after Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Rajasthan Royals by one-run at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad on Thursday. Reddy scored a match-winning knock of 76 runs off 42 balls to help SRH post 201 runs on the board after Pat Cummins decided to bat first.

Reddy got off to a cautious start, scoring only five off the first 10 balls. However, he was quickly able to change the gears, smashing 45 off next 20 balls to bring up his fifty off 30 balls. In the next 12 balls, Reddy scored 26 runs to help his team get past the 200-run mark.

Reddy scored three fours and eight sixes in his blistering knock as he scored his runs at a strike rate of 180.95.

“Yeah, he is becoming one of my favourite cricketers to watch for sure. For a young man to be able to exert his dominance on a spin bowling attack especially of Yuzi Chahal and Ashwin and some of the shots, in fact all of the shots that he played tonight were of a rare quality. For a young man to have that skill development at such a young age and to execute under pressure against the best bowlers in the world,” Watson said on JioCinema.

Watson hailed Reddy for his impressive performance against RR and delivering the goods for the team.

“He is a very special talent. So, like it happens with the IPL, every single year, there is always a couple of young Indian hyper-skilled cricketers that come through and burst onto the scene and that is the reason why Indian cricket has got an abundance of talent that is always gonna be found through and Nitish Reddy is one of those,” Watson added.

Reddy has scored 219 runs in six matches at an average of 54.75 and a strike rate of 154.22 in IPL 2024, including two fifties. The 20-year-old can also chip in a few overs with the ball and he is a gun fielder.

Sunrisers Hyderabad will next take on Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Monday.