"I Spoke To Shah Rukh Khan..." - Nitish Rana Reveals How He Got KKR Captaincy In IPL 2023
Kolkata Knight Riders had a mixed IPL 2023 campaign as the team finished seventh on the points table. Star batter Nitish Rana revealed how he got to lead the side in the absence of Shreyas Iyer, who was supposed to lead the side but was ruled out due to an injury. Rana said that he approached the top brass of the franchise ahead of Indian Premier League 2023 and convinced them that he was ready to take on the leadership role.
Nitish said he even went to the co-owner and Bollywood superstar, Shah Rukh Khan, and told him about his desire to lead the team. Nitish Rana has been an integral part of the Koklata-based franchise since 2018. He has scored at least 300 runs in every season and has established himself as one of the permanent members of the batting order before this golden opportunity came to him in 2023.
Rana did an impressive job as captain, working with decorated Indian coach, Chandrakant Pandit. Kolkata Knight Riders finished seventh in the league with six wins and eight defeats. However, the young team showed a lot of promise and nurtured many talents including current Indian sensation Rinku Singh.
“Unfortunately, Shreyas (Iyer) got injured. There were some problems for sure in the camp because it’s difficult to replace such a senior player. So, someone needed to step up. I went and spoke to coach Chandu Sir (Chandrakant Pandit), and CEO Venky Sir (Venky Mysore). I also spoke to Shah Rukh Sir (Shah Rukh Khan) that I am willing to take up the role,” Nitish Rana told JioCinema.
A lot of things were asked of me. I was told that the team didn’t want me to experience unnecessary pressure. I told them just one thing, that I enjoy pressure a lot and I play cricket for only these things. So these are the things that went in my favour and I got the captaincy. And I am really proud that I got a chance to lead such a franchise,” he added.
Nitish Rana Will Be The Vice-Captain For KKR In IPL 2024
Nitish Rana has been named as the vice-captain of the franchise for the IPL 2024 as they brought back Shreyas Iyer as the captain of the two-time champions. Shreyas Iyer came back from a back injury and made an impact with his performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, scoring more than 500 runs including two centuries in the tournament.
Nitish Rana highlighted the impact of former Knight Riders coach Brendon McCullum on his evolution as a leader in the team set-up. Bendon McCullum worked with the Kolkata-based franchise between 2020 and 2022 before he took up the job of coaching the England Test Cricket Team.
“I had become a senior member of the side in the last 3-4 years. I had got a leadership role in this period. This was started by Baz. He would always encourage me to think like a captain. He said it’s not important that you’d be controlling the game, it’s not important that I will listen to what you say. But you have to keep your brain active about what captaincy is all about. So that helped me a lot,” Rana said.
Nitish Rana had a productive campaign for Uttar Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He scored 201 runs in 7 matches. The left-handed batter will look forward to regaining his peak form ahead of the IPL 2024.
