KKR vice-captain Nitish Rana missed a major chunk of IPL 2024 due to a thumb injury. He suffered the injury in the first match of Kolkata Knight Riders’ campaign, leading to him missing most of the season.
In the end, KKR became champions of IPL 2024 and Rana had a small role to play in it. Due to the injury, the left-hander played only two games and scored 42 runs.
Indian players have often seen Rohit Sharma as a mentor. The young Indian paymasters in the current team address him as ‘Rohit Bhaiya’ and dearly love and respect him. Several youngsters have spoken about how Rohit has played the role of an elder brother in his career and has put his arm around the shoulders of the young players.
In a recent podcast, Nitish Rana shared his side of the story on how Rohit Sharma helped him understand captaincy metrics. He narrated an interaction he had when he led KKR in IPL 2023 in the absence of Shreyas Iyer. KKR did not have a good season as they finished 7th in IPL 2022 and 2023.
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Rohit Sharma tried to calm me down: Nitish Rana
“Last year, when I was captain, I went to Rohit bhaiya. We won two matches and then lost two. He said, ‘Nitish, what do you think? What is captaincy?’ I was about to say something. Actually, I wanted to speak with all my heart, but Rohit Bhaiya didn’t let me. He said captaincy is nothing, just changing bowlers, moving fielders from one position to another. .. it’s not captaincy, he said in the TRS clips.
“He said all that to calm me down and reassure me. He made me understand: ‘As long as the result is in your favor, you’re fixed. The day things don’t go well, no matter how good you are, captain, no one will talk about you. So, “You focus on your process and support yourself. The more you try to complicate it, it will be that difficult and the simpler you keep it, the easier it will be.”
Despite his team’s struggle, Rana’s form was up to par as he finished the season with 413 runs (his best IPL tally) at an average of 31.77, including three half-centuries in IPL 2023. No He was able to replicate the same form due to until his injury in IPL 2024. From 2017 to 2023, Rana surpassed 300 runs in each IPL season.
KKR ultimately won their third IPL title. KKR’s success came under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer and the mentorship of Gautam Gambhir. KKR won two titles under GG in 2012 and 2014. It was again under his mentorship that KKR won their third IPL title.
Gautam Gambhir is now in the BCCI’s sights as they are keen to appoint him as the next head coach of the Indian team. Rahul Dravid’s tenure ends after the T20 World Cup and he has confirmed that he will not continue. The board will reportedly soon take a decision on Gambhir.
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