‘Nitish Reddy is only 22, and you call him a bits-and-pieces cricketer?’ Hanuma Vihari lashes out as all-rounder slammed

Surprisingly enough, that didn’t happen. And if anything, Reddy’s graph dipped as he’s struggled to put up even one noteworthy performance – with bat or ball. Reddy struggled in England with just 45 runs and three wickets and continues to do so in white-ball formats. Moreover, with Hardik Pandya rested, Washington Sundar injured, and Ayush Badoni being brought in as his replacement, the team management’s decision to play Nitish bowl and have him bowl just two overs received criticism. Besides, the fact that he scored just 20 didn’t help his cause. However, an early verdict is out with the public deeming the all-rounder ‘not good enough’ to play for India, but Hanuma Vihari, the former India batter and an Andhra veteran, feels otherwise.

“Can you tell me anyone else in the country who is at the level of Nitish who can bat and bowl seam? And he’s 22. You call a 22-year-old ‘bits and pieces’ cricketer? Write him off just like that?” Vihari shared on X in response to a post.

“Can you tell me anyone else in the country who is at the level of Nitish who can bat and bowl seam? And he’s 22. You call a 22-year-old ‘bits and pieces’ cricketer? Write him off just like that?”

Vihari throws up stats

The overs bowled by him in different formats: 3 ODI matches - 7 overs. 4 T20 matches - 9 overs 3 wickets at 7.88 economy-rate (45 average with the bat) 10 Test matches - 86 overs 8 wickets (60 strike-rate), which isn’t bad for a 4th seamer. He got a 100 in Melbourne, which many can only dream of, like you and me.”

Against New Zealand in the 2nd ODI at Rajkot, Reddy came out at a tricky time. At No. 7, Reddy hit a six but, barring that, struggled to accelerate on a slowish surface. KL Rahul’s century guided India to a decent total but couldn’t prevent an Indian defeat. An Indian team representative spoke about the opportunity given to Nitish and what he could have done to make the most of it.

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