Breaking into a relieved smile, Nitish Kumar said, often stealing glances at his man of the match cheque: “It’s just the match-winning performance I’ve been waiting for a long time.” Nitish rattled out an unbeaten 39 off 24 balls and nabbed a pair of wickets in a two-over burst. “Thankfully, I have delivered at the right time,” he added.
Just the second game of the season, his spot was not under any scrutiny. But the India all-rounder’s performances in the league has been schizophrenic. Impactful knocks came few and far between; match-defining spells came at a premium. Those games when both facets synchronised were rarer. Last season, he mustered only 182 runs and two wickets (bizarrely under-bowled). Negative thoughts crept into his mind. “Too many negative thoughts in my mind because the last season was not gone in my way and too many injuries. This season I’m trying to be positive because,” he told the broadcasters.
In only two games, he has already matched his wickets tally and scored one-fourth of the runs he had managed last season. Hence, perhaps his relief and joy.
The 22-year-old’s batting prowess was indisputable. He possesses an array of clean, neat strokes, aided by a fluid swing of the blade. But his bowling, especially in the shorter formats, have posed question marks. His biggest gifts, to move the ball in friendly conditions, is a misplaced virtue in this format. He is not super quick, or possesses too many variations. But against KKR, he displayed his improved bowling wares. He was quicker, more accurate, cleverer with his lengths, nagging with the lines and smarter at modulating pace.
“I didn’t bowl last season and I know I wanted to work on my bowling a bit and I got some break. But just before coming to IPL season, I really worked hard on my bowling and it’s really good and I worked really, really hard and it’s shown on the ground and really, really happy,” he detailed.
He seemed fitter, and naturally he hit the crease hard with a smoothly intense run-up. He ejected Rinku Singh, looking to break free, with a slower ball outside the stump. He seamed the ball away a shade to brush the outside edge of Ankul Roy to dismantle the comeback pursuit of KKR. He said he was feeling better about body. “I am feeling very good now. I mean, thanks to the trainers and the physios who have been taking care of me. I mean, my body is feeling fit now.”
Last year, he had extensive chats with his SRH captain Pat Cummins too. “After the Australia tour I felt like I have to improve my bowling and my consistency,” Reddy said last year. “That’s what I looked [at]. And yeah, Pat is my captain [in the IPL], and he’s been brilliant in Australia, and I have asked him [for] some tips and he has been telling me how things would have been done in Australia, how can I go through in Australia. And that’s a great experience for me, sharing with Pat,” he revealed.
Him blossoming into a genuine, durable all-rounder would be a kiss of life for India, who doesn’t have a bankable seam-bowling all-rounder in Tests and would want to have a back-up for the injury-prone Hardik Pandya in white-ball cricket. But he would know that one night does not make a summer.
