CHENNAI: Wasim Jaffer’s appointment as mentor of Hyderabad cricket can be felt already. With Tuesday’s innings and 40 runs win against Tripura at the Gymkhana, Hyderabad now have momentum on their side. In their quest to qualify to the knockouts for the first time in a decade, this win comes as a big boost.
One of them fuelled by Jaffer's advice was left-arm spinner G Aniketh Reddy. On a ground conducive for spinners, Tanay Thyagarajan, another left-arm spinner, and Aniketh made the most out of the conditions. But the words of Jaffer, in his brief interaction with the team, have stuck with him. “In Hindi there’s a saying – ‘khadoos (to be stubborn in Hindi).’ He mentioned that word which stuck in me. Whenever we bat our bowl, it should not be easy for the opposition. He’s always told us to show character, grit and to turn up in high-pressure situations,” he told this daily on Tuesday.
And that has translated into a good show with the ball. While Thyagarajan dazzled with a six-wicket haul on Day 3, Aniketh scalped five wickets (5/21) on Day 1 to topple Tripura out from 130/4 to 134 all out.
The five-wicket haul will mean more than just wickets for the 25-year-old. After being one of the standout bowlers in last year’s Buchi Babu Trophy, which Hyderabad won the final in Chennai, Aniketh struggled with injuries in the 2025/26 Ranji season. He ended with 11 wickets.
But this season, the intensity in his preparations have been quite high. “I played five four-day matches in the Hyderabad Cricket Association’s (HCA) senior men’s Super League and I bowled long spells. In a month’s time, I bowled around 140 overs. The plan for the season remained the same as last in terms of keeping it tight,” he said. Additionally, Aniketh scalped six wickets in a practice match against Kerala at the Gymkhana, where Hyderabad won by 184 runs.
Apart from his own efforts, he is banking on his senior left-arm colleague Thyagarajan. “We work as a unit. It's not a competition amongst us rather I would say it's both of us against the other teams. We want to contribute to the winning cause irrespective of our bowling figures. One day, he puts the pressure on the batters, and I take wickets and another day I put the pressure, and he takes wickets,” he said.
His mantra with the ball is clear: Keep it tight and not give batters any freebies. “(The aim) is always to bowl dot balls, understand the wicket, figure out what pace the wicket needs, analyse where I can be most threatening with pace, and stick to tighter lines,” he said.
While he applies his mantra to every ball he bowls, the 25-year-old is inspired by two greats of the game: Daniel Vettori and Ravindra Jadeja. “Earlier, it was Vettori, for his technique and revolutions the ball has when he bowls. Now it is Jadeja. Both are different but, I would like to take Vettori’s technique and Jadeja’s patience and resistance,” he explained.
Unlike some left-arm spinners, Aniketh is someone who employs a diagonal run-up. “I tried going back to a straight run-up last year, but that did not work. I came back to the diagonal run-up this year because it helps get that arc and inward drift towards right-handers, combined with my revolutions and spin off the surface,” he explained.
This season, he wants to take it match by match and help as much as he can for the season. I just want to win games, help the team qualify and try to win the Ranji Trophy title for Hyderabad. If a team qualifies, the player also gets to play higher level cricket; probably Duleep Trophy and India A. That has been the case for so many people for many years,” he said.
Aniketh has passed the first test with flying colours. But a tough test awaits on October 18, when they travel to Vizianagaram to face Andhra.
