License to thrill

India’s big-hitters Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh credit head coach Gautam Gambhir for empowering them to express themselves freely leading to 2nd T20I win

India’s Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh were all praise for head coach Gautam Gambhir after India’s  86-run win in the second T20I against Bangladesh here on Wednesday. 

Reddy said that the idea was to take on the Bangladeshi spinners and credited Gambhir for boosting his confidence after his all-round effort helped India take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

India, who had lost to Bangladesh the last time these two teams clashed here, were in trouble with their top order blown away inside the Powerplay, but Reddy and Rinku Singh joined forces to turn the tables on Bangladesh. The pair put on 108 runs for the fourth wicket off 49 balls to take the game away from Bangladesh, with Reddy clobbering seven sixes and four fours to make 74 from just 34 balls.

Gautam Gambhir

“We discussed that we won’t take any pressure. We did not plan anything specific about the score. We saw the spinner coming on and thought that we should take him on,” Reddy said in a video shared by BCCI.  

“I should thank Gautam sir for this. He gave me a lot of confidence. He told me to believe in my bowling. [He said] ‘when you are bowling, you should think like a bowler and not as a batsman who can bowl’. That is what he kept telling me and that somehow boosted me,” 
said Reddy. 

“Once I got to know that from here you should take on. I just knew that I will take on the bowlers. I was backing myself saying ‘you can do this’, added Reddy, who returned 4-0-23-2,” added Reddy who was named  Player of the Match. “Playing for India is in itself a proud moment and getting the Man of the Match [award], I feel so grateful for this. I just want to live in this moment,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Rinku said that Gambhir and skipper Suryakumar Yadav have empowered Indian players to express themselves and embrace their natural style while being relentless in attack. Rinku blasted 53 runs off 29 balls at No 5. “The coach and captain have asked us to play our game and whatever the situation], the message from them is maarte jao ball ko [just keep hitting the ball],” Rinku said at the post-match press conference.

“[The] coach has asked us to back ourselves and play your game. He has given us full freedom to hit the ball,” added Rinku, who has worked with Gambhir at Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. 

The dashing batter from UP offerd an insight into his mindset. “At the position I play, I get batting at different junctures of the game. Whenever I get batting earlier, my aim is to take singles and doubles and attack the bad balls. When I come to bat with 2-3 overs left, my aim is to hit more fours and sixes. My aim is to collect more runs for the team,” he said.

Rinku revealed that the ball was not coming on to the bat  well initially. “When the match started, the ball was not coming properly on to the bat. When Sanju [Samson] and Surya bhai got out then Reddy told me, ‘ phass rahi hai [the ball is sticking to the wicket]’. So we discussed that we should get a [good] partnership first and then look to gain momentum.”

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