Nitish Rana has told Jio Cinema in an exclusive interview that he approached the hierarchy of Kolkata Knight Riders for the franchise’s captaincy before the start of the Tata IPL 2023. Nitish, who has been with KKR ever since their swap deal of Suryakumar Yadav with Mumbai Indians in 2018, has been an exceptional player for them with both bat and ball.
In the absence of Shreyas Iyer last edition, Nitish did a really good job in managing the KKR squad and, even though they didn’t make it to the playoffs, played some exceptional cricket, especially with the emergence of current Indian team superstar, 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," said Nitish.
He later applauded the trust shown in him by the KKR management. "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."
Nitish is all set to be the vice-captain of the team as Shreyas Iyer is back to play after his long-term injury ruled him out of the IPL 2023 and will be full of confidence on the back of a really productive Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023, playing for Uttar Pradesh.