IPL 2021: Nitish Rana Downplays Kuldeep Yadav's Remarks On KKR's Performance This Year So far

Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Nitish Rana has brushed aside Kuldeep Yadav’s recent comments on the franchise’s unwillingness to win games in IPL 2021. Kolkata Knight Riders was one of the most underperforming teams in the first leg of IPL 2021, finishing seventh on the points table. But Nitish Rana commented that players’ poor performances were a reason and not the side’s lack of commitment.

One of Kolkata Knight Riders’ main factors behind finishing at the lower half of the points table so far is their consistently misfiring batting order. Their captain Eoin Morgan had undoubtedly proved himself as a liability, scoring 92 runs in seven games at 15.33, maintaining a strike rate of 112.20. Nitish Rana’s form also tapered away after firing in the first match.

Nitish Rana understands the comments coming from people when a team does not perform; however, he asserted there is no lack of willingness from the Knight Riders to win. The southpaw believes that there are areas for improvement even when their team loses. Rana also feels that Kolkata could have done better, mainly him and Shubman as their contributions can still take the franchise close to the trophy.

“Obviously when one team isn’t performing well people talk about a lot of things. As a KKR player, I don’t think there’s anything like it. Obviously, we can improve when we lose, and even when we win, the scope for improvement is always there. In my opinion, yes, we can do a bit better as Indian players, me and Shubman. If we contribute a bit more, it will help KKR and we’ll probably be able to take the trophy home,” Rana told IndiaTV cricket.

They started the KKR Academy three years ago and it has helped me immensely: Nitish Rana

Nitish Rana attributed his maiden India call-up for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour to the KKR academy as it massively helped him during the off-seasons. The Delhi batsman revealed that there were at least two men standing to provide him all the help he required.

“They started the KKR Academy three years ago and it has helped me immensely. You can’t make too many changes to your batting during the season. But I know when I had the time during the off-season and I used to go to the academy, there were always two guys standing there to help me out with everything,” he added.

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