Nitish Rana comes off age, grabs Orange cap

Image: IPL

Xtra Time Web Desk: Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Nitish Rana continued his good form with the bat in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Delhi batsman registered consecutive half centuries of the season. He is also the current holder of Orange Cap. Rana ended up scoring 63 (34) with the help of two fours and seven sixes before getting out to debutant Varun Chakravarthy in the 15th over.

Indeed the Delhi bastman has come off age as it is not easy to overshadow an in-form Robbie Uthappa. The best thing about his batting is he is not a slogger but a clean hitter of a cricket ball.
It was enthralling to watch Rana going after Kings XI captain Ravichandran Ashwin. The six he hit off Ashwin, sitting down on his knee over the long on was the shot of his knock. Rana hit the off spinner for another six over long-on in the following over. Rana was at his devastating best against part timer Mandip Singh as he hit him for a couple of sixes.
Former South African captain Graeme Smith was at awe to see the youngster bat. According to Smith, it was some power hitting. While former Australian captain Michael Clarke reckons Rana has all the shots at the moment.

Rana has already scored more than half the runs he scored last season. He scored 304 runs from 15 matches last season. The 25 year old is truly coming off age, a sign the franchise will be happy with after roping him couple of seasons back.