[In Pictures] "He sacrificed his life for me"- Nitish Reddy poses with his parents after match-winning performance in SRH vs PBKS IPL 2024 clash
SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) all-rounder Nitish Reddy posted an emotional note on his Instagram about his father after a Player of the Match award performance against Punjab Kings on Tuesday.
On the back of Nitish's all-round show, SRH beat Punjab Kings by two runs in the 23rd match of IPL 2024 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur.
The Hyderabad side got off to a poor start in the powerplay for the first time this season, losing three wickets with just 39 runs on the board. Twenty-year-old Nitish Reddy (64) took the onus on himself and hit a scintillating half-century, even though wickets kept falling at the other end to power SRH to a decent total of 182/9 in the first innings.
Punjab Kings then tried their hard in the chase, courtesy of fighting knocks from Shashank Singh (46*) and Ashutosh Sharma (33*) but fell narrowly short of the target.
It was a memorable outing for Nitish, who became the youngest player to hit a half-century, take a wicket, and grab a catch in an IPL match.
Nitish Reddy took to his official Instagram handle today and shared a couple of pictures of himself alongside his parents. It was an emotional moment as Nitish's father embraced him affectionately. The SRH all-rounder also shed light on the struggles endured by his father to encourage his cricketing journey by writing:
"I am really very happy that I Made my father proud. He fought against all odds to make me what i am today, he sacrificed his life for me. Those happy tears from my parents after last game made my day more special ❤️."
"I want to continue this performance" - Nitish Reddy at post-match presentations of SRH vs PBKS IPL 2024 clash
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Nitish Reddy reflected on his performance against PBKS and said:
"For me, it's like a big contribution to my team and myself. I will take a lot of confidence from this game. I was talking to myself, that I needed to take my team to a good situation. Seamers were bowling well, I knew that spinners were going to come and I wanted to attack them.
He added:
"You can see the whole tournament, the slow bouncers are working. I tried to use the dimensions and I got the wicket. I want to continue this performance, with the bat or ball or on the field for my team."
SRH will next face RCB on April 15 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.