Injuries and fitness-related issues last year had impeded Nitish Kumar Reddy’s prospects, eventually hampering his place in the Indian team.

Hardik Pandya’s consistency and the rise of Shivam Dube have made it further difficult for the seamer all-rounder to break open the door to India’s T20I team. Nitish still has to travel at least a mile or two for an India comeback.

However, the success he had with both bat and ball in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s comprehensive 65-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on Thursday will help him map his return route to Team India better. With the bat, his 24-ball 39 in a vital 82-run fifth-wicket partnership with Heinrich Klaasen was crucial. With the ball, Nitish took 2/17 in the couple of overs he bowled, which included the key scalp of a set Rinku Singh.

The 22-year-old had worked on his bowling with a former fast bowler in Bengaluru in the lead-up to this IPL.

“Nitish had worked on his bowling with a former pacer at an academy in Bengaluru. That was in the first week of March. The focus was on both his front-foot and back-foot landing (at the delivery stride) and a few other technical aspects. That seems to be yielding results,” a source close to the all-rounder told The Telegraph on Friday.

Nitish, too, acknowledged the role of that “special person”, whose name he didn’t wish to reveal. “It's always been on point that I wanted to work on my bowling, but it's just the injuries which I have gone through last year because of which, I didn't get the time to work on myself.

“But thankfully, I got a little bit of time for myself before the season and yeah, I did pretty good in one week of training with a specific person, so that really helped and makes sense whatever he has said to me. So, it's going good now,” Nitish emphasised.

Another aspect that should help sharpen his bowling is his striving for optimum utilisation of the conditions, something he did well at the Eden on Thursday. “When I batted, I honestly thought that wicket was a bit two-paced, as when the bowlers tried the slow bouncers, sometimes it was sticking a bit (on the surface) and sometimes it was rushing to the batsmen.

“So, I thought, ‘Why not try the slower ones?’ And that's what I actually did.

“I got Rinku's wicket as it actually rushed to the bat, and that's when I got the edge. So yeah, it's just one of my strengths, the slower ones,” Nitish explained.

With focus on bowling, the Andhra youngster appears is on the right track.