Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik believes that Nitish Kumar Reddy’s impressive outings of late will be a massive relief for captain Shreyas Iyer and Team India amid the tour of New Zealand. The all-rounder made an impact with both bat and ball in the second T20I in Christchurch, scoring a 13-ball 26 and finishing with figures of 1-31 in three overs.

“With every passing game, you are finding a very able backup for Hardik Pandya. Going toe-to-toe, bowling in crucial overs, he is able to bowl in the death. With the bat, he is getting the job done; India is searching for an all-rounder in white-ball cricket. For a long time, they have tried Shivam Dube, and he has done quite well, but he has not bowled as well as India would have liked. In Nitish Kumar Reddy, they have unearthed a person who can hit as close to Hardik Pandya. That will be a huge sigh of relief as a captain.” Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

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However, Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy got the job done in the end, and Varma shared this about his batting partner after receiving the player of the match award.

“I told Naman that we’d stay together till the end. The pitch was a little slower than in the previous game, so our plan was to push hard with our running between the wickets, especially against the spinners. We did that really well, and unfortunately, Naman got out in Mitchell Santner’s final over. Otherwise, I think we could have finished the game in the 18th over. “Credit goes to Naman as well for the way he batted. The Hyderabad boys, Nitish Reddy and I, were out there towards the end, and we’re really happy that we managed to finish the game,” Tilak Varma said during the post-match presentation.