New Delhi, Sep 13 (IANS): India left-handed batter Nitish Rana revealed that his team-mate from Kolkata Knight Riders, fellow left-handed batter Rinku Singh, is now a good friend of him despite his first meeting with him not going well.
Rana, hailing from Delhi, has played an ODI and two T20Is for India on their tour of Sri Lanka last year. After spending three years with Mumbai Indians, Rana has been a part of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL since 2018. In IPL 2022, he amassed 361 runs in 14 matches at an average of 27.77 and strike-rate of 143.82.
Nitish and Rinku had made 48 and 42 respectively while stitching a stand of 66 for Kolkata to defeat Rajasthan Royals in Match 47 of IPL 2022 by seven wickets. Though the duo were amongst the scorers for Kolkata in the crucial final league match against Lucknow Super Giants, they fell short by just two runs to miss out on playoffs.
"Kolkata Knight Riders has a huge role to play in my cricketing life as well as personal life. My first interaction with Rinku didn't go well, but now he means a lot to me. When we were supposed to play the last match for KKR in the last season, Rinku and I sat for a discussion the previous night and decided to give everything in that match (against Lucknow Super Giants)," said Rana in an audio chatroom session of 'CricChat Powered by Parimatch' on the Sharechat app.
When discussing his career, Nitish credited his father for his success and revealed that he cried on hearing his selection for the Sri Lanka tour. "My dad has always backed me up. I am what I am, and it is all because of him. When people questioned my dad on his decision to help me become a cricketer and taunted him saying I won't be able to earn off this field, he used to tell them that I won't let my son starve."
Apart from being an integral part of Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Rana is a mainstay for Delhi in domestic cricket. "The culture Gautam Gambhir created for Delhi cricket is still very special. Once, when I dropped a catch, he asked me to listen to songs during lunchtime to soothe myself. Cricketers from north India, especially Virat have (has) a passion that can shut anyone down," concluded the left-hander.