Seven days. Two massive steps of change. 10 behind-the-scenes periods and some drills he would maintain pricey shifting ahead.
Shortly earlier than the IPL 2026 season started, every week in Bengaluru might have simply modified the trajectory of Nitish Kumar Reddy’s bowling prospects.
There are solely two wickets to point out for now, however a speedy spurt in velocity – gaining as much as six miles per hour in seven days – has resulted in rekindled confidence with the ball. Nitish’s IPL uptick might be carefully monitored by the Indian crew administration, which has earmarked the 22-year-old as a most popular seam all-rounder choice throughout codecs.
Nitish, who had a restricted bowling presence within the IPL final 12 months – solely 5 overs – shone in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s first win of this season with figures of two/17 in opposition to Kolkata Knight Riders. “I needed to work on my bowling, nevertheless it’s simply the accidents which I went by means of final 12 months. Fortunately, I received a little bit little bit of time earlier than the season, and I did fairly effectively in a single week of coaching with a selected particular person,” the Andhra all-rounder mentioned after the win.
English affect
That particular person was Steffan Jones, the famend English fast-bowling coach who has labored with a number of Indian stars previously by means of his brainchild PaceLab academy, together with the present SRH bowling coach Varun Aaron.
A direct social media textual content prompted Jones to fly all the way down to Bengaluru. “Nitish received in contact with me by means of Instagram, and I finished by for every week earlier than the IPL. We did a seven-day camp with him. Only one-to-one coaching, involving a mix of plenty of bowling, plenty of drill work and a few energy work,” Jones instructed The Indian Categorical.
Nitish Reddy and Steffan Jones labored collectively for every week in Bengaluru forward of the IPL 2026 season. (Instagram/Steffan Jones)
Nitish solely had one factor on his thoughts whereas approaching Jones. “Pace.”
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“Anybody who approaches me needs extra velocity and extra technical recommendation,” mentioned Jones.
The 2 received all the way down to work with Jones immediately measuring Nitish’s erring metrics by means of his scientific and data-driven teaching background, supported largely by his sprint-resistance machine, generally utilized by Olympic athletes, and weighted balls, heavier than the common cricket ball.
Nitish’s angular run-up, missing function and tempo, was among the many limitations since his worldwide debut in 2024. Final 12 months, he sustained 4 totally different accidents – quadricep and knee considerations, a aspect pressure and a neck spasm – earlier than returning every time to the Indian aspect with minimal scope and impact with the ball.
A tangled operating approach hampered Nitish’s momentum.
“He has a really strong repeatable motion, however he spent too lengthy on his again leg, his ankles collapsed on the again foot, which then meant he had poor alignment on the entrance leg. We elevated his run-up by about two massive steps. Based mostly on the evaluation of the dash resistance machine that I exploit, he was not arriving backfoot contact (on the crease) at optimum velocity.
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A discernible change is noticed in Nitish’s bowling. The operating seems sturdier with a straightened run-up, the load-up of the supply focused extra in the direction of the batter, slicing the beforehand side-on angle. They arrived on the optimum end result as Jones elevated the depth of Nitish’s run-up, serving to him assault the crease sooner.
“So getting him to run additional and sooner, getting off the again foot after which spending extra power and time on the entrance leg, which he was in a position to do as a result of he’s most likely top-of-the-line athletes going round,” described Jones.
Nitish’s angular load-up in IPL 2025 (on the left) in comparison with his straightened run-up in IPL 2026. (JioHotstar screengrabs)
Nitish internalised the actions after Jones put some “constraints” and “cones” all the way down to straighten the operating. “He simply always drilled that, and now I see he’s doing that within the sport. He’s attacking the crease. He’s received an awesome operating fashion. He’ll barely cross over once in a while, nevertheless it’s nonetheless not hampering his velocity and switch of power in the direction of the batter,” Jones defined.
Jones’ drills are something however old-school quick bowling coaching, involving lengthy hauls within the nets. “Plenty of sprinting and leaping, resisted bowling with heavier balls, plenty of drugs ball throwing, backfoot contact work, together with some hopping.”
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He careworn particular work on the ankles. “We did isometric pushes simply to strengthen the ankle. It’s an enormous factor with all Indian bowlers. Their ankles aren’t compliant due to the atmosphere and the best way they’re introduced up, the best way you sit, and many others.”
Varun Aaron’s position
Whereas their time collectively allowed for 10 periods, Jones mentioned that his empirical insights required Nitish to carry the drills for 15 extra “exposures”.
“That’s why the connection with Varun Aaron was actually necessary,” mentioned Jones. “He let Nitish do my stuff. I’m certain that Aaron does my stuff as effectively as a result of I had coached him in London earlier than. I needed to get a complete of 25 exposures in earlier than he was obtainable for choice for the primary sport. It’s that particular.”
The TV screens clocked Nitish at a excessive of 139.5 kph throughout SRH’s earlier outing in opposition to Rajasthan Royals. It’s a deceiving metric that Jones wouldn’t go by. He’s assured Nitish will push north of 140 kph with extra periods collectively.
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“It doesn’t matter what velocity he arrived at. It was six miles per hour faster when he left, and that’s now translated to the velocity will increase on TV, however these are totally different to what the radar gun would do,” mentioned Jones.
“The straightforward reality is Nitish is bowling six miles per hour faster by myself pocket radar inside every week.”
The inexperienced shoots of Nitish’s laborious work behind the scenes are slowly showing, and with 9 extra league matches to go, there’s enough time for them to develop into one thing greater. For Indian cricket’s sake, that might effectively be the largest takeaway from IPL 2026.