WATCH: Nitish Reddy celebrates in ice-cool fashion after hitting maiden fifty for India in 2nd T20I vs Bangladesh

oi-Utkarsh Singh

Nitish Reddy brought up his maiden fifty for India in the second T20I against Bangladesh at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday, October 9. Reddy made his debut in the first T20I against Bangladesh on Sunday.

The 21-year-old from Andhra Pradesh took his time to settle down, but once he got his eyes on the ball, he showed his range and played shots all around the park. His ice-cool celebration was also a highlight of maturity and calmness after seizing the big moments.

The right-hand batter brought up his first T20I off 27 balls, before cutting loose further to score 74 off 34 balls. His innings consisted of four boundaries and as many as seven sixes. Some of his sixes even forced his teammates and head coach to take a note and applaud.

Out of the seven deliveries Nitish Reddy faced after completing his fifty, Reddy slammed three sixes and a four. Reddy was looking to hit one more six over mid-wicket when he ended up generating a leading edge which was caught by Mehidy Hasan Miraz who backpedaled from extra cover.

Reddy missed out on a chance to convert his maiden fifty into a hundred but thousands in the stadium acknowledged the quality of the knock by giving a standing ovation.

Why Nitish Reddy’s knock was special?

Nitish Reddy was batting on 23 off 16 balls and India were 41/3 at one stage. But the right-hander did not perish under pressure, and instead maintained his cool, and held his nerves to announce his arrival at the international stage.

Also, a 108-run stand off just 49 deliveries with Rinku Singh, set the tone for India after their unimpressive start. He laid out the foundation for the batters coming after him to take the Bangladesh bowlers to the cleaners and take India’s total past 200 with utmost ease.

Story first published: Wednesday, October 9, 2024, 20:32 [IST]