Bangladesh got off to a near perfect start at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the second T20I with three powerplay wickets limiting the hosts to 45/3 after six overs. The Tigers further piled on the pressure there on by shcakling Rinku Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy early into their innings but the momentum only lasted until the ninth over, when the latter broke loose. Riyadh Mahmudullah made the fatal mistake of gifting the Andhra batter a free hit when he was on a run-a-ball 13, and Nitish duly obliged with a maximum to get himself going. Six more maximums and three boundaries followed in a scintillating knock of 74 in just 34 deliveries, taking the score to 150 by the 14th over when Mustafizur Rahman finally scalped him with a change of pace. However, the damage had been done, not just in terms of runs but also mentally given some of the unfathomable shots the youngster played, none better than a wristly flick in the 11th over.
The Fizz had managed to beat Nitish with a slow off-cutter on the third ball and attempted to follow-up with a similar delivery, only quicker, on the top of off stump. However, much to his shock, Nitish shuffled across slightly to create room for himself before whipping the Kookaburra with lightning quick wristwork to send it sailing over long-on. The Tigers could only watch the white rock make its way into the crowd and even earned the adulation of skipper Suryakumar Yadav in the dugout, who wringed his face in sheer bewilderment at the quality of the stroke.
Twitterati reacted no differently.
WHAT A SHOT!
Brilliant batter!
NITISH KUMAR REDDY – The brute force of six hitting. 🥶#INDvBAN pic.twitter.com/GksJ8Zo4p2
— ASHER (@ASHUTOSHAB10731) October 9, 2024
NITISH KUMAR REDDY – the brute force of six
pic.twitter.com/PRWJY5j1VX— Jay Mangal Yadav (@MangalYadavSP) October 9, 2024
He is very dangerous!
Very huge six of The Nitish Kumar Reddy
— sadaf Khalid (@MaliknazK) October 9, 2024
Remember the name!
NITISH KUMAR REDDY – The brute force of six hitting. 🥶 pic.twitter.com/sF3VKC3fZW
— RoKo(Rohit &kohli)fav. (@Dk__0024) October 9, 2024
First Six of the 2nd T20 from Rinku Singh
What an stealing show from Bangladesh to India by Rinku & Nitish Kumar Reddy 😍😍pic.twitter.com/J7RnTAopif— Abhi.R. (@__Abhi__R) October 9, 2024
They are doing good!
Another six for Nitish Kumar Reddy! India is on fire—let’s see how high they can score!
— Amarab 🌞 (@Amarab72) October 9, 2024
Big one!
Nitish Kumar Reddy’s six is just what India needed to build momentum—let’s keep the runs coming!
— Amarab 🌞 (@Amarab72) October 9, 2024
First six for the debutant in T20 International cricket – Nitish Kumar Reddy! 🎉🏏#NitishKumarReddy #T20Debut #Cricket #t20i pic.twitter.com/3GB6eTzPwD
— Alex (@Alex_PPC_) October 8, 2024
With big number!