Star KKR player Nitish Rana finally came into the playing XI after returning from injury, because of which he missed 10 games on the trot. However, in the same match, fans witnessed opener Phil Salt get out on a single-digit score.
“He [Salt] must have felt that he could have done so much more on that wicket but looking at his disappointment and hurt, I wanted to step up and do for my side what he couldn’t on the night,” Rana said after KKR’s 18-run win over Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens and qualifying for the playoffs. “The credit goes to the team management. They showed immense belief in me by keeping me on the bench for 10 matches despite my injury. They perhaps knew I could make a positive impact later in the tournament. Luckily, my 33 runs were important on that stage because the ball was seaming and the wicket was helping the fast bowlers.”
However, Nitish Rana’s contribution came in what he felt was his “first match” and he shared that he could hardly sleep the night before. He also opined on how he slowly made a return to match fitness.
“Couldn’t sleep last night, felt like I was going to play my first IPL game,” Rana said. “I was coming into a team that has been doing well, and coming back into such a big league match against MI and in what’s the last home game for your side. Plus it’s a reduced match. I slept around 8am in the morning. I was so anxious, my heartbeat was fast, and I felt like I was going to play for the first time. But these are the things that keep you hungry and drive you to do better. Couldn’t touch my bat for 20-22 days because of injury, then I started batting with one hand. Whatever I could do, I did. Whenever I was sitting alone, I was sitting and visualising.”
However, he led the side last year in the absence of captain Shreyas Iyer. And, Rana revealed what he felt was different this year.
“The difference between this year and the other years I’ve been around is the belief in each other, the trust that’s been built in the dressing room around ‘if not me then he will do it’. People could say to us that how can you let a team chase 260 but that’s where the belief comes in. We had the same bowling attack in that match and the same bowling attack in this one. This year is more about giving extra confidence to each other and I will give the credit for that to Chandu sir and Gauti bhaiya. They assured the players that it can’t happen that you perform in all 14 games, how big a player you are. It’s important how much you back your players and the prime example of that is sitting in front of you. After sitting out for 10 games, they played me the moment I was fit and gave me a chance in an important game, so you can imagine the kind of backing in the dressing room,” he added.
Meanwhile, it hasn’t been an easy journey to the playoffs for KKR, as they allowed Punjab Kings to complete the highest T20 chase on their home turf as well. But Rana shared that it was a loss that brought the side even closer.
“It’s easy to say now because things are in front of you but to be honest, we felt bad that night. A lot of people didn’t eat in the dressing room, only 3-4 plates were used. So people were very disappointed. When you start to hurt as a team when you lose, when it’s not the case that only few team members are sad when you lose and the others are laughing and joking around, that’s the team environment in our dressing room at the moment. If we lose, we will be disappointed and have our hands on each other’s shoulders. That was missing for the last 1-2 years. This year, the awareness is there,” Nitish Rana concluded.
