GT vs KKR: No mention of Shreyas Iyer as Nitish Rana thanks 2 KKR men who helped him revive

Former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Nitish Rana has thanked franchise head coach Chandrakant Pandit and mentor Gautam Gambhir for constantly backing him. 

Nitish Rana sustained a hand injury during Kolkata's IPL 2024 opening match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens.

Since then, Rana hasn't played a single match for the franchise as injury hindered his game time for the better parts of this season. But he made his return last night with an effective performance during KKR's win against the Mumbai Indians. 

Nitish Rana thanks KKR team management for integrating him into the playing XI right after injury recovery 

While speaking at the post-match press conference after KKR's 18-run win, Nitish Rana had words of praise for the KKR management.

On his return, Rana scored 33 runs off 23 balls which might look ineffective at first but based on the game's situation, those runs were very crucial. Especially because MI Vs KKR in Eden Gardens was a rain-marred game that was reduced to 16 overs.  

Nitish Rana's 33 runs were complimented by Andre Russell's 24 off 14, Rinku Singh's 20 off 12, and Ramandeep Singh's 17 off 8. As a result, KKR were able to post a competitive target of 158. The Mumbai Indians failed to chase down as they were restricted to 139.

During the press conference, Nitish Rana was asked by a media reporter as to who deserves the credit for his comeback after 10 games. Rana, unselfishly, claimed that his return was made possible by the team management who have shown immense faith in him since the first game against Sunrisers Hyderabad where he got injured. 

Nitish Rana claimed that to remain injured for 10 matches and then be directly involved in the match, speaks volumes about the trust the team management has in its players. Rana thanked the coaching staff for believing that he could have a positive impact on KKR even after missing 10 matches and claimed that he was lucky to score those 33 runs.  

"All thanks to the management because they showed so much belief in me that I could provide the same kind of impact even after missing 10 matches this season (due to injury)."

"They kept me at the bench for 10 games and they knew I could help the team luckily today, those 33 runs were extremely important at that stage because the ball was seaming hard and the wicket was quite helpful for the pacers. So I think the entire credit goes to the team management, especially the coaching staff." - Rana said in the press conference. 

Nitish Rana reveals the differentiator for KKR in IPL 2024 

Nitish Rana then explained that the KKR dressing room has a different kind of self-belief and willingness to help each other this season. The Delhi-born batter claimed that this mindset wasn't there in the previous seasons but this season, every player is willing to help the other and help each other to improve every day. 

Lastly, Rana stated that all of the credit goes to none other than head coach Chandrakant Pandit and mentor Gautam Gambhir. 

"I think the difference this season, as compared to the last 4-5 years, has been the belief that the players have in each other. The belief that we have and the trust that has been built in the dressing room that everyone will help each other out is the differentiator in IPL 2024." 

"The belief that we have to give each extra confidence and backing, is much more than we had in the previous years, and for that, the credit goes to Chandu Sir and Gauti Bhaiya." - Nitish Rana concluded.