Young Indian all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is a ‘tukde-tukde’ cricketer, which has left former Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari fuming, a journalist has claimed.
Many former cricketers and cricket analysts have raised questions on the selection of Nitish Kumar Reddy in the Indian team for the New Zealand ODI series. Since he feels that Nitish Kumar Reddy is unimportant in the Indian team, he has demanded changes in the team from the team management.
However, the cheap criticism of a young player who has not received proper support and is so raw as a cricketer at the age of 22 has irked former Andhra Pradesh captain Hanuma Vihari, and he has not shied away from giving a strong statement on the matter.
Nitish Kumar Reddy’s importance comes under scrutiny as prominent sports personalities
Reddy once again faced criticism for his limited contribution after being selected for India in place of all-rounder Washington Sundar, who was ruled out of the second ODI against New Zealand due to injury.
Vikrant Gupta, one of the most senior names in sports journalism and the current face of Sportstak, questioned his ideal role in the team and asked why he was considered an all-rounder after bowling just two overs and batting at no. 7.
When Nitish Reddy came to bat, the Indian innings had reached the 40th over and he had nothing much to do. Reddy hit a six and as he moved forward he was trapped in the deep while attempting to clear the fence on a slower bouncer for the second time.
Reddy scored only 20 runs, almost at a run-a-ball, and bowled two overs for 13 runs without any major impact. Due to this, PTI reporter Kushan Sarkar called him more of a ‘bits and pieces’ cricketer than an all-rounder.
Hanuma Vihari criticizes journalist for cheap claim on young Andhra all-rounder
Hanuma Vihari has been angered by the term ‘bits and pieces’ which has been used against the young all-rounder. He believes that for a young all-rounder like Reddy, who has not yet been given enough chances to make a proper impact, getting a call-up is everything, but not being an all-rounder is discouraging.
Hanuma Vihari, who is from the same state team and has played international cricket for India, claimed that there is no other domestic player who can bat and bowl with the same ability as Reddy.
Hanuma Vihari then highlighted his stats in international cricket and clearly showed how despite playing for India in 17 matches across all three formats combined, he has performed well with the limited opportunities he has received.
Can you tell me anyone else in the country who is of Nitish’s level who can bat and seam bowl? And he is 22 years old.
You call a 22 year old young “bits and pieces” cricketer!?
Just write it off?
FYI the overs bowled by him in different formats:
ODI 3rd match – 7 overs
4 T20… https://t.co/rnE21KVp2J– Hanuma Vihari (@Hanumavihari) 15 January 2026
Nitish Reddy’s statistics in international cricket
Young Nitish Kumar Reddy was born in 2003 and bowls right-arm medium and bats as a right-handed batsman on the side. He made his T20I debut for India against Bangladesh and followed it up with his Test and ODI debut in Australia.
In 10 Test matches, he has scored 396 runs and has also taken 8 wickets by bowling only 86 overs. In T20Is, the batsman has played just three innings and scored 90 runs, and also has three wickets to his name. His ODI debut has happened recently, where he has scored 47 runs and has not taken a single wicket yet, he has bowled just 7.1 overs.
In domestic cricket for Andhra, he has 1327 runs in first-class cricket and has taken 66 wickets in 36 games, while his List A career also has 626 runs and 21 wickets in 32 games.
Also read: Babar Azam disrespected Virat Kohli in Fab Four ranking in Test.
