Gautam Gambhir gave me a lot of confidence: India all-rounder Nitish Reddy

In his second T20I, Nitish delivered a performance to remember with an explosive knock of 74 and two wickets to go with it, helping India secure a massive 86-run win over Bangladesh at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.

Speaking in a video shared on the official social media handle of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Nitish recalled when Gambhir asked him to believe in his bowling. The youngster added that Gambhir's words boosted his confidence.

"To be honest, I should thank Gautam sir for this. He gave me a lot of confidence. He told me to believe in my bowling and told me 'when you are bowling, you should think like a bowler. You should not think you are a batter who can bowl, you should consider yourself a bowler'. That somehow boosted me. I would like to thank Gautam for this," Nitish Reddy said.

https://x.com/BCCI/status/1844264278649602248

Coming to the match, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl first. India was reduced to 41/3 at one point, but Nitish (74 in 34 balls) and Rinku Singh (53 in 29 balls, with five fours and three sixes) put on a match-saving stand of 108 runs. Hardik Pandya (32 in 19 balls, with two fours and two sixes) played a fine cameo to power India to 221/9 in their 20 overs.

Rishad Hossain (3/55) and Taskin Ahmed (2/16) were the top bowlers for Bangladesh.

In the run-chase of 222 runs, Bangladesh initially kept up with the run-rate but lost wickets continuously. Except Mahmadullah (41 in 39 balls, with three sixes), nobody could really play a decent knock and Bangladesh ended with 135 on the board with nine wickets lost. India won by 86 runs.

Varun Chakravarthy (2/19) and Nitish (2/23) were among the top bowlers for India. Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar and Riyan Parag got a wicket each.

India has won the three-match series 2-0.

Nitish won the 'Player of the Match' award for his fine all-round show. (ANI)