IPL 2026: Irfan Pathan speaks about Nitish Kumar Reddy ahead of season

Nitish Kumar Reddy (Pic: File Pic)

The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections.

Ahead of the cash-rich league, former Team India cricketer Irfan Pathan feels that Nitish Kumar Reddy could play the role of a "glue" for Sunrisers Hyderabad's aggressive batting approach.

"If he performs his role well, I think he can act as the glue in this unit, which is otherwise very ultra-aggressive. It will be interesting to see how Hyderabad counters this challenge," he said.

The former cricketer then said that Nitish's run tally and strike rate have dropped. He also said that the Andhra Pradesh-born cricketer was not able to capitalise on the chances he received.

"We saw that his numbers dropped compared to the previous year. In 2024, he scored more than 300 runs and had a good strike rate. But what happened last year? His runs almost halved to around 180, and his strike rate dropped to about 119. It is not like he was batting too low either. In about 7 out of 11 innings, he got opportunities around number four. So, he was unable to capitalize on those chances," said Pathan.

The first match of the marquee tournament is scheduled to be played between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

IPL 2026, Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Full Squads

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Phil Salt (WK), Rajat Patidar (C), Nuwan Thushara, Romario Shepherd, Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Salam, Jordan Cox, Jacob Bethell, Vicky Ostwal, Mangesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Pat Cummins, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Travis Head, Liam Livingstone, Ishan Kishan (WK), Kamindu Mendis, Brydon Carse, Zeeshan Ansari, Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Mavi, Jack Edwards, Harsh Dubey, Salil Arora (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Smaran Ravichandran, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Aniket Verma, Shivang Kumar, Krains Bhaveshbhai Fuletra, Omkar Tarmale.

(With ANI Inputs)