He is an attacking batter who can also bowl tidy offspin. He hopes to absorb lessons from Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson, and develop into an allrounder like Glenn Phillips. He has already had a taste of the Under-19 World Cup in 2024 in South Africa, where he was New Zealand’s highest run-getter.Armed with domestic experience at Northern Districts and overseas exposure at the Chennai Super Kings Academy, he’s now ready for another Under-19 World Cup. Off the field, he claims he can make a “very good” coffee at the cafe owned by his parents in Central Hamilton. Meet Snehith Reddy, who turned 19 in November.
Reddy was born in Vijayawada in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and was just a year old when his family emigrated to New Zealand. He spent around eight years in Auckland and moved to Hamilton after his parents set up a cafe there. It was club cricket in Hamilton that kindled Reddy’s passion for cricket. When his father Krishna played club cricket during weekends, Reddy accompanied him and fell in love with the game.
Years later, Krishna followed his son to East London, where Reddy cracked an unbeaten 147 off 125 balls against Nepal. It was a special moment not just for Reddy’s parents, who watched his century live in South Africa, but also for his extended family, who were tracking his scores from India.
“I remember after that game going to my parents and them being slightly emotional and in fact quite proud of me,” Reddy recalls speaking to ESPNcricinfo. “But, yeah, it was sort of the event that brought a lot of sacrifices and hard work to light, I think, for my parents.
“And it made them very proud. Obviously, the family back home in India were very proud of me as well. They were proud of how far we had come in this country that we obviously shifted to and to see me perform on a world stage was something very emotional for them.”
Reddy is relishing another chance to represent New Zealand in a global event. He is one of five players in the squad with domestic caps and seems to have a reference point for what to do in a major tournament.
“We were talking about this the other day. So going into the last World Cup, all of our players, we didn’t know what to expect,” Reddy says. “We’ve never played against those big Under-19 nations [before] and it was all very foreign to us. But this time, having a few guys in the environment from last time, we sort of understand where we stand a little bit better. We can take a lot more confidence from where we stand and seeing other teams play.
“So the media, the hotels, the fans, everything was different. But this time we sort of have a little taste of what to expect. And when you know what to expect, you can approach it in a different way. You’re not as nervous, anxious, you’re not as confused. You sort of understand what’s going to happen and you can sort of just trust your process and plan and know that that’s good enough to compete.”
Reddy brings with him the experience of having played the one-day Ford Trophy and standing up to a touring English attack, which included Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse, in Queenstown.
Snehith Reddy – “I’ve got big goals and I’ve got ambitions, but I understand it’s one step at a time”•ICC/Getty Images
“Yeah, that was a very cool experience, something that I wasn’t really expecting at the time [in November 2024],” Reddy says. “You see all these superstars that you’ve idolised for so long on the same cricket field as you and you almost think it’s not real. It was a pinch-me moment.
“I’ve been part of ND now for a few seasons and at this age, I’m just trying to be a sponge and learn as much as I can. I needed to see how far I can get in my cricketing journey. I’ve got big goals and I’ve got ambitions, but I understand it’s one step at a time. And opportunities like these only are stepping stones to where you want to get to.”
Reddy idolises Mitchell, who is currently among the top-ranked ODI batters in the world, and credits him for his inputs and perspective. Reddy picked Mitchell’s brains when the pair was together at Northern Districts; Mitchell has now shifted to Canterbury.
“So, when I moved to Hamilton, my parents had a good relationship with Daz [Daryl Mitchell]. “Through that, I was able to meet him, have conversations with him and get to know him and his journey a little bit. He’s someone that’s helped me a lot, particularly when I was younger.
“We talked a lot about my goals and at certain ages where I want to be. I had some general guidelines like ‘I want to make New Zealand under-19s at 18 years old’ and certain things like that. And then there was one piece of information that he gave me: ‘don’t be in a rush in your cricketing journey’. You often see people around you excel way quicker than you and get to higher heights. He told me not to compare myself to them and not be in a rush.”
At Northern Districts, Reddy also had a chance to take a peek into the mindset of an all-time great. “There’s a lot of aura around Williamson,” Reddy says. “He talks about committing to a plan. You’re going to get out in some ways, and what he said was if you get out not committing to anything, there’s no point in what you’ve just done. He says that when a bowler’s bowling well to you, you’ve got to know your game so well that you’ve got to be able to put pressure back on him in your own way.”
All of these experiences have helped Reddy settle into New Zealand’s system. He concurred with his domestic captain Jeet Raval, saying that cricket has enabled him to embrace New Zealand culture.
“Definitely. The culture in New Zealand is very different to India,” Reddy says. “But cricket sort of provides people with that bridge, I guess, allowing you to go between – at home it’s a different sort of environment and then your cricket field is a different environment. So cricket’s sort of the bridge between both of those.
“And people in New Zealand are very accepting. So it’s easy to fit in, but cricket is sort of that bridge for people. I was fortunate, unlike Jerry [Jeet Raval], I grew up here, but he obviously had to move and he had his own challenges. I sort of understood the way of Kiwi life here and cricket is a big part of our summer culture here.”
Snehith Reddy believes that the camps in Chennai have fast-tracked his growth as a batter•ICC/Getty Images
While Reddy is used to facing fast bowlers on challenging pitches in New Zealand, he honed his skills against spin in Chennai, where he has had two stints at the Chennai Super Kings academy, which is frequented by both Black Caps and White Ferns. Reddy believes that the Chennai camps have fast-tracked his growth.
“The experiences in Chennai have been invaluable,” Reddy says. “People in New Zealand, particularly younger players, play spin very differently. But going to Chennai, seeing how the Indian boys play spin, it’s very much trying to be on top of the spinner. It’s not trying to let them settle or let them bowl to you. In New Zealand, it’s a little bit more like: okay let the spinner bowl and wait for him to miss.
“Worked on things like footwork and getting deep in the crease and playing off the back foot and then sweeping conventionally. Getting exposure to that in foreign conditions can only benefit you, particularly at a young age. My own spin bowling is a work in progress and hopefully one day like Glenn Phillips I can be a genuine bowling option.”
“Success is never guaranteed. You can’t wrap your head around that too much. If the result comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, you have to accept it and go again next time.”
During his most recent visit to Chennai in early 2025, Reddy trained with his Northern Districts team-mate and close friend Aryan Mann, a wicketkeeper-batter, who would later score twin half-centuries on his Plunket Shield debut. Reddy is enthused about the prospect of teaming up with Mann again, this time at the 2026 Under-19 World Cup.
“Aryan is one of my best friends in cricket,” Reddy says. “One of the guys that I’ve grown up with and I just spent a whole month with in Chennai in the same room. He’s someone with a lot of talent, a lot of ability and he’s shown now that he can compete against first-class bowlers. He’s someone that I hope to grow alongside with in my cricketing journey. You see guys like Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma – they’re best friends off the field too. He’s someone for me that I wish that I can go to those heights with him.”
While Reddy has shown plenty of promise, he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself and get caught up with an outcome-based approach.
“If I get runs or not, being consistent with my approach brings out the best version of me and that version can compete with anyone,” Reddy says. “I know success is never guaranteed, but I give myself the best chance of being successful that way. Everyone has big goals. They want to be the top run-scorer, all those things. You can’t wrap your head around that too much. If the result comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, you have to accept it and go again next time.”
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
