'My parents suffered the most' - Nitish Reddy sheds light on repercussions of his comments on MS Dhoni

Star Indian allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy had a memorable Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) season for the franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The all-rounder was handy with bat in the middle order and played an important role in SRH reaching playoffs of the league. But the Hyderabad batter has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. His recent comments about Indian legend MS Dhoni have not gone well with certain fans of the former Indian captain. 

Nitish was asked to choose the most skillful batter between Dhoni and Virat Kohli. The youngster picked the latter and said that Dhoni has talent but lacks technique akin to Kohli. The statement quickly made it to social media pages and Nitish was reprimanded. Though the 21-year-old clarified his stand, however, the tornado did not seem to calm down. In a recent podcast, he clarified the incident and revealed how the developments took a toll on him and his family.

“Yes, it went viral on social media; I also noticed it. The question was about AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli's different styles of gameplay, but I referenced Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) because I believe he has a strong mindset and unique talent. I tried to explain how he became a champion with that mindset. Maybe my choice of words was poor, and it got conveyed wrongly to the fans, portraying it in a wrong manner. You all know how much I admired him during my domestic days. It was not my intention to draw any comparisons also,” said Nitish in a conversation with Cricket OTT on YouTube.

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“I expected to face negativity based on my performance, like if I failed or went through a rough patch, but I never thought it would happen this way—due to a misunderstanding about my statement regarding someone I admire deeply. It hurts to see the backlash, especially when my words were taken out of context. I understand how quickly negativity can spread on social media, but it’s still hard to deal with,” the SRH allrounder continued. 

My parents suffered the most because of this: Nitish

Notably, Nitish Kumar Reddy has a close connection with his family especially with his father. His father left his job at the Hindustan Zinc to fulfill his son’s dream of playing cricket. He was transferred to Udaipur and he returned to Visakhapatnam which provided Nitish with an opportunity to train with professionals. The right-arm pacer further revealed that the comments on social media were directed towards his sister and his father was left devastated.

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“My parents suffered the most because of this. The comments targeted my sister and mother, which made my father emotional. Seeing him hurt made me feel terrible. I sat down with my family and explained how social media can twist things and how quickly things can be taken out of context. Now they’re feeling a bit better, but it’s been tough. I hope everything will get better soon,” he concluded.