Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has called Nitish Kumar Reddy a weakness for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026). The season opener will be played between SRH and defending champions RCB on March 28 in Bengaluru.
Nitish Kumar Reddy won the Emerging Player of the Year award in the IPL 2024 season, where he scored over 300 runs at a good average of 33.67 and a strike rate of 142.92. But the last season was very bad for him. His runs dropped to just 182 in 11 innings at an average of 22.75 and strike rate of 118.95.
Nitish Kumar Reddy can work as glue: Irfan Pathan
Now, the pressure is on the 22-year-old to bounce back after failing to capitalize on the opportunities given to him last season. However, Irfan Pathan feels that Reddy can play the role of a stabilizer in the ultra-aggressive SRH batting order, and that could turn around his and the team’s fortunes this season.
Also read: RCB wicketkeeper calls Vaibhav Suryavanshi ‘unprofessional’
Pathan said in a video on his YouTube channel, “We saw that his numbers have declined compared to last year. In 2024, he scored more than 300 runs and his strike rate was also good. But what happened last year?”
“His runs almost halved to around 180 and his strike rate dropped to around 119. It’s not like he was batting very poorly. In 7 out of 11 innings, he got chances around number four. So, he was unable to capitalize on those chances.”
The former World Cup winner further added, “If he plays his role well, I think he can act as the glue in this unit, which is otherwise very aggressive. It will be interesting to see how Hyderabad rises to this challenge.”
Pathan explains why Nitish Kumar Reddy’s role is important
Meanwhile, SRH have a lot of power hitters in their batting line-up, and now they also have Liam Livingstone, and they like to play aggressive cricket right from the start, and this is where Reddy’s role becomes crucial for the franchise.
Pathan has said that Reddy will bring balance to the middle order and control the innings when others play aggressive cricket. The cricket pundit asked the youngster to play smart and steady cricket to become a key player in the star-studded line-up in IPL 2026.
They have an important role to play – Irfan Pathan
He explained, “SRH’s approach is ultra-aggressive. They have players who naturally play the same way one on one. Now, with the arrival of Liam Livingstone, you have around five such aggressive batsmen. Aniket Verma was also a big positive last year. So, they all play with aggression.
The question is whether Hyderabad can control this ultra-aggressive approach a bit and convert it into more controlled aggression. As I told earlier, Nitish Kumar Reddy will play a very important role in this.
Notably, Nitish Kumar Reddy has played 28 matches so far and scored 485 runs at an average of around 28 and a strike rate above 130 with the help of two half-centuries in his IPL career. He has also taken five wickets so far in the world’s biggest T20 league.
Also read: Jitesh Sharma gives open challenge to Jasprit Bumrah, will score 20 runs in IPL 2026