On Monday, the Kolkata Knight Riders announced Nitish Rana as their new captain, who will lead the team until Shreyas Iyer recovers and resumes his leadership role. Rana will become KKR’s fourth captain in three seasons, succeeding Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan, and Iyer himself.
With the support of veteran coach Chandu Borde, Rana is determined to end KKR’s nine-year quest for an IPL title. Although he has been appointed captain only this year, Rana has been an integral part of KKR’s core leadership group since 2018.
Over the past five seasons, Rana has been a consistently strong performer for KKR, scoring at least 300 runs each year. His outstanding performances earned him a call-up to the Indian team, where he played in 2 T20Is and 1 ODI. With Iyer sidelined, Rana has the opportunity to showcase his leadership skills and stake his claim for another international call-up.
Although he has captained Delhi in 12 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophies, he has no prior IPL captaincy experience. Nonetheless, he has observed and learned from how MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Sourav Ganguly led their respective IPL teams. However, in response to a reporter’s question, Rana revealed that he has his own plans and will not rely solely on seeking advice from these four Indian cricket superstars.
The interviewer asked Nitish Rana about his experience as a captain in domestic cricket and inquired about his captaincy idol. With several prominent names such as Dhoni, Rohit, Kohli, and Ganguly having led their respective IPL franchises in the past, the reporter asked Rana which of them he intended to follow.
Rana expressed that he does not wish to emulate any specific individual and desires to lead the team in his unique style. He believes that by attempting to follow someone else, he might compromise his identity as a captain. Instead, he intends to pave his way and take the team forward in his manner.
Rana emphasized that it’s not just about Ganguly, as he has played under several captains including Gautam Gambhir, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, and Shreyas in major tournaments. Although Rana has not played under Ganguly, he recognizes Ganguly’s significant contribution to Indian cricket and the heights he took it to.
Rana believes that there are numerous things to learn from various captains, but everyone has their own unique style of leadership. He urged everyone to be patient and wait, as they will get to learn and talk about his captaincy methods in due time.
