Nitish's biggest strengths are maturity and mindset: Coach

I remember an instance when his dad told me he can't afford a bat for Nitish, so I gave him mine. He went on to score 441 runs in an innings with that HEMAL WATEKAR, Nitish's childhood coach

- Shantanu Srivastava

NEW DELHI: Hemal Watekar remembers the time he first saw a 13-year-old Nitish Kumar Reddy walk into his academy. The former Andhra batter, having called time on his first-class career in 2012, had opened his Lakshy Cricket Academy a year later in Visakhapatnam and Reddy was part of the first batch.

"The first thing I noticed was his height. He was taller than other kids of his age and seemed an ideal candidate to be groomed as a medium-pacer," said Watekar. "But when I saw him bat, I was convinced he was a special talent. He packed real punch in his shots and he had more power than the rest of the boys," the 47-year-old added.