IPL 2021 – Nice to see him mature – Dinesh Karthik likes what he sees of Nitish Rana



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“Whether he wants to make a name for himself, he needs to retain producing these knocks”

Nitish Rana has received a glowing endorsement from Dinesh Karthik after he saw Kolkata Knight Riders through in a tricky chase against Delhi Capitals on Tuesday. Rana, who has dropped back into the middle order for Knight Riders after Venkatesh Iyer’s emergence at the top, batted ahead of Eoin Morgan at No. 4 against Capitals, and scored the winning runs after a slim middle order had collapsed in the chase of 128. His unbeaten 36 off 27 in a low-scoring game complemented Sunil Narine’s cameo (21 off ten) to retain Knight Riders in fourth place as they continued to turn their season around.

“I think he played a in point of fact sensible knock. The good object used to be he used to be not out till the end, which is essential for us,” Karthik said. “Just the way he used to be in a position to care for the pressure and take on the bowlers that he thought he could take on. It used to be nice to see him mature.

“It used to be important that he helps to keep playing innings like this, because he’s capable of it. Crucial object in his life is whether he wants to receive into the national team and make a name for himself, he needs to retain producing these knocks. And he is definitely got the talent to do it.”

Twenty-seven-year-old Rana had been a few of the most consistent uncapped Indian batters in the IPL since he broke through with Mumbai Indians in 2015, and debuted in ODIs and T20Is with India’s second-string squad in Sri Lanka in July.

Rana’s innings on Tuesday used to be in line with Brendon McCullum’s demand of fearless cricket from his team. It used to be especially evident throughout the 14th over, when their run rate had dropped below six and they needed 52 off 42. The Capitals were taking a look to sneak in an over from offspinner Lalit Yadav, who is not a frontline option for them, but had kept the batters in check in his first two overs. Rana took his state (Delhi) team-mate for 14 runs off three balls, before Knight Riders closed off the over getting 20.

“It used to be a case of Nitish feeling good [about] the truth that he could take on a Lalit Yadav,” Karthik, who used to be batting with Rana at that point, said. “So he backed himself to hit those shots. At that stage what we were discussing is that we wish to take the game reasonably deep, we wish to have the correct mean – whether it is there, we will go for it, whether not we will make certain we rotate strike whether it is conceivable. It wasn’t an easily rotatable wicket, as a way to speak, but there wasn’t a plan like we wish to take a Lalit Yadav on. In truth, it used to be in reality harder to hit the spinners than the fast bowlers.”

The win made it three out of four for Knight Riders since the IPL has resumed in the UAE, and the ten-ball victory in a low-scoring game has added to what’s the best net run-rate a few of the four teams that are currently battling for the fourth spot on the table. It is symptomatic of a team that has looked an absolutely different side to the one who started the second one half in seventh place.

“I think the truth that Venkatesh Iyer has opened and he is shown great mean,” Karthik said in terms of what has changed for the team. “Shubman Gill is a far more free player, he is in a position to back himself to play his shots.

“The talent used to be obviously there, it used to be [about] getting the combination correct. I think in many ways the combination is more or less set, we got off to a good run so it feels good. So just a few things falling in place. We have Lockie Ferguson bowling mannered. A large number of small things fell in place. People have had time to look back at themselves and what they wish to do, and they have come back as much better cricketers.”

Varun Shetty is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo


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