XtraTime Web Desk: Kolkata Knight Rider’s hard hitting all rounder Nitish Rana has come off ages. The 26 year old cricketer from Model Town, Delhi has emerged as the vital cog in the Shah Rukh Khan owned franchise. From being a cricketer who would turn up at Kotla to watch cricket is now the most sought after batsman in Dinesh Karthik’s team. Rana will be looking to have a highly successful IPL 2020 in a bid to stake his claim in the Indian team.
Son of a professor, Rana always loved playing cricket more than his studies since childhood. His father has been very supportive and wanted his son to choose either bat or books. A young Nitish preferred picking the bat. But he had to struggle a lot in his initial days until the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy seasons when he amassed 557 runs at an average of 50.63. He was also the highest scorer for Delhi in the Vijay Hazare trophy. But his stint in the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy caught the attention of everyone. He piled 299 runs in 8 innings at a strike rate of 175.88 and an average of 42.71. In the match against Andhra, Rana changed the complexion of the match with his 97 runs knock from 40 balls after Delhi was tottering at 40/4. It was due to his innings Delhi posted a massive 236/9 and eventually won the match. In the following match against Baroda, he again scored a quick-fire 53 runs from 29 balls to successfully chase 153 runs. Against Jharkhand, he hit an unbeaten 60 off 44 balls after Delhi were reduced to 14 for 3 in their chase of 135 and helped his team to a 5-wicket win.
A string of good performances in domestic cricket landed him an IPL contract with Mumbai Indians in 2015. He did not get an opportunity to play that season. But in the following season he impressed everyone with whatever opportunities he got. In the do or die match against Gujarat Lions, Rana scored 70 runs from just 36 balls, thanks to a tip from former Australian great and MI mentor Ricky Ponting. The punter gave him the license to express himself in the middle which he did it in style. Rana capitulated him into fame in 2017 season, where he made 333 runs from 13 matches to help Mumbai lift the title for a third time.
The following season at the domestic level Rana had an even better show. He churned out 613 runs in 8 games at an average of 55.72 in the 2017-18 Ranji season. Following which he was snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2018 IPL auction. Since then the left hander has proved himself a vital cog in KKR, grabbing headlines with his match-winning knocks.