Coach reveals secret behind Nitish Reddy's perfect batsmanship at Melbourne Cricket Ground

Nitish Reddy’s stroke-play during his century on the third day of the fourth Border Gavaskar Trophy Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) that helped India bite into time and arrears was so perfect and befitting a top-order batman that it left everyone surprised.

The crowd rose to their feet and the commentators raised him above encomium.

But those that have seen him bat as a youngster were not surprised.

“People don’t know that he was an opening batsman to start with. He opened for Andhra at the U16 and U19 levels. He used to bowl too. At U19, the workload was too much so we made him bat in the middle order. We thought it would be tough for him to bowl and then turn up to face the new ball. In the Ranji Trophy, he batted in the middle-order,” said Vikram Varma, who was a coach at the Andhra Cricket Academy during his formative years.

“He was mainly a batsman who can bowl. We saw that he had pace so we made him bowl too,” Varma further told www.thedelhijunction.com

“He has the sense of where to play the ball. He bats a lot in the nets, has good awareness of the conditions. He has the potential to bat anywhere but likes to bat at the top.”

Varma reveals that Reddy always dreamt of playing with Virat Kohli.

“From under-16 days he wanted to play with Kohli. He works very hard on fitness, takes care of his diet and fitness routine.”

Reddy was initially lodged in the Andhra Cricket Academy in Cuddapah, which looks after the under-14 players. He then moved to the Vizianagram academy which looks after players from U16 to U19 players.

Reddy was one of the 30 players who are picked on scholarship where everything from food, clothing, equipment and stay is taken care of without any charge.

Each of the two academies, the Cuddapah academy (for U14s) and the Vizianagram academy (for U16s to U19s), take 30 players to be looked after by the Andhra Cricket Association.

Reddy went on to make his Ranji Trophy at the age of 18.

“I have seen what his father went through. He was struggling. He had given up his job to focus on his son’s career. Wherever his son would play he would go and watch the match. He faced a lot of financial struggles,” added Varma.

Varma said that the IPL contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad also came as a boost to his batting.

“He began working on his batting after getting the IPL contract.”

Vincent Vinay, who was coach of the Andhra team when Reddy represented the state at U16 and U23 levels, says Reddy was lean and raw when he came into the squad.

“But the talent was there and he used to give his best. One quality that stands out with him is that he is very skilful. For any player with skills, it is easy to develop mindset and technique. He had the basic defence, on-the-rise drives and backfoot punches. He also had a good cut shot. He always played as an all-rounder when I was there. But the temperament he showed from the first Test has been commendable. That is the biggest change I have noticed in him from his younger days.”

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