Nitish Kumar Reddy’s performance as an all-rounder for SunRisers Hyderabad last year earned him a national call-up, and he even made the playing XI for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
However, the 21-year-old is yet to bowl a single over in the ongoing IPL 2025, and former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn has criticised this move.
The former Proteas quick called out SunRisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins and the rest of the management for not entrusting Nitish Kumar Reddy with the ball. Steyn believes the youngster has a golden arm, so it is baffling to see not bowl a single over.
Steyn’s comments came during SunRisers Hyderabad’s IPL 2025 fixture against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, which Cummins and co last by six wickets.
Taking to X, Steyn wrote, “Have SRH just forgotten that Reddy can bowl…? Has a bit of a golden arm, absolutely worth an over or two.”
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It must be mentioned that Nitish Kumar Reddy came into the IPL after recovering from a side strain. This injury had earlier ruled him out of the T20I series against England.
Steyn also said that Nitish Reddy is batting extremely fine, so it looks unlikely that he is still carrying an injury.
“If he’s injured, then it’s understandable, but he seems to be batting just fine, so,” he wrote.
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How has Nitish Reddy performed with bat?
Nitish Kumar Reddy has failed to get going with the bat in the ongoing IPL 2025 edition, scoring 131 runs in seven matches at an average of 21.83 and a strike rate of 113.91.
He has constantly batted at No.4 ahead of the likes of Heinrich Klaasen and Aniket Verma. However, the right-hander has failed to make the slot his own, constantly disappointing by failing to score big runs.
SunRisers Hyderabad are currently at the ninth spot in the IPL 2025 standings with 4 points from 7 matches. The team will next take on Mumbai Indians at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Wednesday, April 23.
SunRisers have lost five out of their seven matches and the side needs to win at least five of their remaining games to remain in contention for the playoffs.