Nitish Rana Reveals How He Dealt With Criticism

Nitish Rana was named the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders after regular captain Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the competition. The batter is Kolkata’s second-highest run-scorer in the ongoing IPL season. However, things have not been easy for Nitish Rana. Ahead of KKR’s must-win game against Rajasthan Royals. Rana opened up on his struggle, dealing with his short ball game as well as criticism over his form.

Over the last few years, Nitish Rana’s short ball weakness was exposed in front of the bowlers. In a detailed conversation with Mohammad Kaif and Harbhajan Singh, the KKR captain explained how he worked on his weaknesses. “I’ve worked on facing the short ball, and it is showing in my batting now. Because many were criticizing my technique against short ball,” Nitish Rana told Kaif. He further mentioned that there were some big names too showered extremely critical of his game.

I’ve worked on my batting: Nitish Rana

“I’ve worked on my fitness and short-ball technique this year. Many, many big people, who I won’t name, have said things about that (short-ball technique); some even phone-called me directly, and that really hurt me. So, I’ve worked on my batting, dedicated my all to the game. I’m in a better shape as well, and batting well as well,” Nitish Rana said. Ever since his debut in 2016, except the first season, the batter has been consistent with having 300+ runs each season.

Looking at the form Nitish Rana is in, it is possible that the player will have his best season this time. Currently, having played 12 matches, he has 348 runs with 2 half-centuries. During the last game against Punjab Kings, Nitish Rana played a match-winning knock of 51 runs. After staying at the bottom half of the table, the team has worked its way up to the 6th spot. KKR is to face Rajasthan Royals in their next fixture and a win in that will have a direct jump to number 3 with 12 points and a better run rate. Apart from Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh is the best performer for Kolkata Knight Riders.