All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy became the unlikely saviour of India in the first session of the third Test of the series at Lord's against England. Just after the drinks break, Reddy was brought into the attack. He conceded a boundary, but got the wickets of openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley. Captain Shubman Gill gave Reddy as many as 14 overs on Day 1 as he troubled English batters. After the day's play, Reddy credit his Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Pat Cummins and bowling coach Morne Morkel for the improvement.
"After Australia tour I felt like I have to improve my bowling and my consistency. That's what I looked about. And yeah, Pat is my captain, and he's been brilliant in Australia and I have asked him some tips and he has been telling me how things would've been done in Australia, how can I go through in Australia. And that's a great experience for me, sharing with Pat Cummins," Reddy said in the press conference.
"Coming to this tour, I would say, working with Morne Morkel has been great for me. He's working with me for couple of weeks and, we are seeing good progress in my bowling, and I'm really enjoying working with him."
Hard work pays off for Reddy
Before the Lord's Test, Reddy had bowled 50 overs in Test cricket and claimed five wickets at an average of 43.80. On Day 1 at Lord's, he did not just take two wickets but got seam movement as well. He did not leak many boundaries and conceded 46 runs at an economy rate of 3.30 runs per over. The young all-rounder said that he has been working hard on his bowling. He got a wicket each against England Lions for India A.
"We've been working on my consistency a lot since I get a bit of swing both ways. I just want to be consistent on the areas. So we are working on that. I've been working hard on my bowling for one year or two years. I've been doing a lot of hard work, but later on it is about understanding things and believing in myself. If you believe, that's when your hard work comes on point. That's what I'm realising now," the 22-year-old said.
Reddy on injury and lack of bowling in IPL 2025
Reddy also opened about the injury he sustained during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 which led to him not bowling much for SRH in the IPL 2025. He wants to continue with the same rhythm in the coming days as well.
"After injury it's been a bit tough for me to get into my rhythm. It had been hurting a bit after the injury as well. An the end of the IPL season, I got my bowling started into the matches and I felt great. I just want to enjoy the movement, want to bowl what my team wants from me and I guess that's what I have done exactly, and pretty happy the way I bowled today, and I just want to continue tomorrow," he concluded.