'Nitish Kumar Reddy certainly growing in confidence as an all-rounder' — Irfan Pathan lauds 23-year-old after 2nd T20I heroics

Nitish Kumar Reddy produced a notable all-round display in the 2nd T20I between India and New Zealand at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, on Saturday, October 24. The 23-year-old contributed with the ball and then played a match-winning hand with the bat as India chased down a 181-run target with one ball to spare, winning by four wickets to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan took to X on October 24 to praise Reddy's showing on the New Zealand tour.

"Nitish Kumar reddy certainly growing in confidence as an all rounder this trip. Bowling regularly and now this inning of26 not out under pressure gives him and team management confidence to give him longer run in all format," Pathan wrote.

Reddy's all-round display in the 2nd T20I

India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl first. New Zealand recovered from losing three wickets inside the powerplay to post 180/5, with Glenn Phillips contributing 70 off 43 balls and Bevon Jacobs adding 58. Arshdeep Singh was the pick of India's bowlers with 2/33, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prince Yadav and Reddy each claimed one wicket.

Reddy's bowling figures read 3-0-31-1. His sole dismissal was the well-set Jacobs, whose wicket fell in the 19th over. Reddy then walked in during the chase and remained unbeaten on 26 off 13 balls. He and Tilak Varma put on an unbeaten 69-run seventh-wicket stand off 30 balls that steered India home, with Reddy hitting the winning runs off Jacob Duffy on the penultimate delivery.

India's chase and the match result

Tilak Varma finished unbeaten on 51 off 26 balls, while Naman Dhir had earlier contributed 31 off 17 balls, including three sixes and one four, before his dismissal. The combined effort across the batting order allowed India to complete the chase of 181 with a ball remaining.

Reddy, born on May 26, 2003, in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, is a right-handed batter and right-arm medium-fast bowling all-rounder. He represents Andhra Pradesh in domestic cricket and Sunrisers Hyderabad in franchise cricket. His performance at Hagley Oval was part of a broader series of contributions on the New Zealand tour that drew Pathan's attention on X. In the absence of Hardik Pandya, Reddy has been putting in some notable contributions.