"When I was planning to score runs...": Nitish Kumar Reddy on his partnership with Abdul Samad during IPL clash

Mullanpur (Punjab) [India], April 10 (ANI): Following the victory against Punjab Kings (PBKS) by two runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy spoke about his partnership during the match.
Nitish struck a magnificent 64 in just 37 deliveries, and with the ball, he dismissed Jitesh Sharma and took Prabhsimran Singh's catch as well.
The 20-year-old player asserted that he also felt that facing the PBKS bowling was difficult and their left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh was bowling really well.
"To be honest, I also felt that it was too difficult to face the PBKS bowlers. Arsdeep was bowling really well. During that time, I was backing myself. I was believing in myself that I had to take on the fast bowlers," Nitish said in a video posted by IPL.
The youngster further stated that Abdul Samad gave him the confidence to hit big shots during the last few overs.
"When I was planning to score the runs, the same time Samad came into bat. It's not easy for one batter to attack all bowlers. It was Samad who gave me confidence as played some brilliant grounded shots," the right-hand batter added.
In the end, Nitish spoke about his conversation with skipper Pat Cummins during the second innings.
"I was always confident in my bowling. The wicket which I took was crucial. I was saying to Pat that I wanted to bowl slower ones but he told me to bowl on hard lenghts. Then I said that I have confidence in my slower ones so he said that if you are confident then go with it," the all-rounder concluded.
With his sensational performance, the all-rounder became the first uncapped player in IPL to score 50-plus runs, take a wicket, and bag a catch in an IPL match.
At 20 years and 319 days, he is also the second youngest player to score a half-century in the IPL. Priyam Garg at 19 years and 307 days became the youngest player to score a fifty.
Coming to the match, after losing three wickets in the powerplay, SRH posted a total in excess of 180 thanks to Nitish Reddy's maiden half-century and some crucial runs scored by Abdul Samad and Shahbaz Ahmed.
In the run-chase of 183, PBKS lost wickets frequently and were reduced to 114/6 in 15.3 overs. A remarkable fightback from Shashank Singh (46* in 25 balls, with six fours and a six) and Ashutosh Sharma (33* in 15 balls, with three fours and two sixes) almost sealed a win for Punjab, but they fell short by two runs. (ANI)