Sunrisers Hyderabad have quietly evolved into one of the top teams in IPL 2026. After losing their first match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, SRH achieved victory in seven out of their subsequent 10 games which brought them to the first position in the points table. Their powerful batting lineup has received most of the focus from observers. Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen have emerged as the top three batsmen of the current season. Nitish Kumar Reddy has been another player who contributed significantly to SRH's success. The 22-year-old has provided important support to the team through his batting and bowling skills which brought essential equilibrium to the group. Nitish Kumar Reddy Strengthens SRH Middle Order The team used their aggressive batting style as their main strategy during the current season. While Travis Head has not been at his best Abhishek Sharma continued to give flying starts at the top. Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen delivered consistent performances in the middle order. After the top-order laid the platform Nitish Kumar Reddy added important finishing touches with quick runs lower down the order. His fearless batting style enabled SRH to achieve high scores which they managed to defend successfully across multiple games. One of his best knocks came against Lucknow Super Giants when SRH were struggling at 26/4. Nitish scored a fighting 56 and helped his team recover from a difficult position. Deep Dasgupta who used to play wicketkeeper for India praised Nitish because he brought value to the team as a complete all-rounder. Deep Dasgupta opined in an ESPN Cricinfo show: “What is heartening to see is even though there is this impact sub option, he has kind of found a niche for himself as an allrounder. We don’t get to see too many allrounders in this tournament. I think Nitish is the only proper allrounder. Bats in the middle order, bowls more often than not at least three to four overs.” He Added: “If you start with five bowlers and that’s where the allrounders, somebody like Nitish, are so, so important. So you can actually get an extra batter in there knowing very well that this guy can give you four overs.” Also Read | IPL Over National Duty? Travis Head, Aussie Pace Trio Likely to Miss Pakistan ODIs Big Improvement with the Ball Nitish had a disappointing IPL 2025 season where he scored only 182 runs in 13 matches and picked up just two wickets. His poor form caused significant problems for the team which led to SRH's challenges during the previous season. The young all-rounder has experienced a total transformation during the IPL 2026 season. He has scored 222 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 166.91 and also taken seven wickets in 10 matches. His bowling improvement has been equally important for SRH. Nitish worked with Steffan Jones who is the bowling coach to develop his bowling speed and rhythm. The results have shown clear evidence throughout the current season. He has provided vital breakthroughs during crucial game situations to ease the burden on the main SRH bowlers. His performances enabled the team management to support young bowlers Sakib Hussain and Praful Hinge instead of depending solely on experienced players Jaydev Unadkat and Harshal Patel. The emergence of Nitish Kumar Reddy as an important player in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s IPL 2026 season can be attributed to his outstanding performance in batting and bowling.