Nitish's sensational performance leads India to victory, sealing the series against Bangladesh in T20Is

All the hard work put in during domestic cricket and the impressive performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Sunrisers Hyderabad seemed to be wasted. However, the 21-year-old did not lose hope and dedicated himself to regaining full fitness for a comeback with the team.

The batting all-rounder got another chance, this time getting picked for the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh. While Reddy didn’t get a chance to show his skills on debut in Gwalior as India registered a facile seven-wicket win, he came into his own on Wednesday with a brilliant 74 (34b, 4x4, 7x6).

The Andhra batter, who had scored a 15-ball 16 not out on Sunday, joined hands with southpaw Rinku Singh to deliver India an 86-run win – the biggest over Bangladesh by runs – and help the hosts seal the three-match series 2-0 with a game left to play in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Asked to bat, India put 221/9 on the board in 20 overs which Bangladesh failed to chase, ending at 135/9.

Reddy, who was fast-tracked into the team after scoring an impactful 303 runs in 11 games that helped Sunrisers Hyderabad finish runners-up in IPL, came into bat with India in a spot of bother at 25/2 in the third over with both openers – Sanju Samson (10) and Abhishek Sharma (15) – dismissed. The situation worsened when Mustafizur Rahman (2/36) removed India skipper Suryakumar Yadav (8).

Reddy and Rinku (53 off 29) decided to steady the ship and spent some time at the crease. Slowly, the ones became twos and twos were converted into boundaries as they started hammering the big shots.

Dropped by wicketkeeper Litton Das when on five, Reddy made most of the let off to repay the faith the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee had showed in him as he cracked his maiden international half-century in only his second game for India, ending up playing a game-changing innings. Reddy unleashed his attacking best to pummel Bangladeshi bowlers to not just pull India out of trouble but set up the platform for a huge total.

After reaching his half-century in 27 balls, Reddy accelerated before he was finally caught while trying to go for the maximum in the 14th over that ended a brilliant 108-run stand with Rinku in 49 deliveries.

Rinku, who till now had played a second fiddle watching Reddy go on the rampage, took it upon himself to hit five boundaries and three sixes to the delight of the Delhi crowd at the Ferozeshah Kotla to reach his third T20I half-century. All-rounder Hardik Pandya (32 off 19) struck some lusty blows towards the end to propel India to 221/9.

Though Rishad Hossain took three wickets, he was hammered for 55 runs in his four overs. Taskin Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers, returning 2/16 in his four while Tanzim Hasan Sakib (2/50), who came in place of Shoriful Islam, and Mustafizur Rahman (2/36) were also among the wickets.

In reply, Bangladesh batters seemed to get bogged down under pressure against the Indian bowlers, like in the first contest where the visitors folded for 127. Bangladesh kept losing wickets at regular intervals as the Indian bowlers never allowed the batters to build a partnership. Only Mahmudullah (41 off 39) looked steady, but the innings came too late in the match. Also, he never got any support from the other end.

The hero of the first game, spinner Varun Chakravarthy, backed his three wickets in Gwalior with 2/19. Reddy (2/20) made the day even more fruitful as he took his first two wickets in international cricket removing Tanzim (8) and Mahmudullah.

This was India’s 15th win in 16 games over Bangladesh with the only loss having come five years ago at the same venue, which also happened to be the 1,000th T20I.