For Kolkata Knight Riders, one player who has emerged as a crisis man is none other than their star left-handed batter Nitish Rana. In Shreyas Iyer’s absence, he took up leadership responsibilities in 2022 and once again has come back to being the vice-captain of the franchise for the upcoming 17th edition. He forms the spine for KKR in the middle order and in the last few seasons, he has delivered some notable performances. In this article, we will take a look at Nitish Rana’s top 3 IPL innings.
87 vs Chennai Super Kings, 2020
Nitish Rana played his best knock in IPL against the 5-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2020 season. Knight Riders were put to bat by MS Dhoni after winning the toss and Nitish Rana accepted the challenge. Along with Shubman Gill, he added 53 runs for the opening stand and the left-hander continued to attack even after a few quick dismissals. Rana ended up with 87 runs helping KKR to post 172 runs in the first innings.
85* vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 2019
Nitish Rana’s second-best batting display came against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2019 at the Eden Gardens. Bangalore had posed a huge challenge by posting a target beyond the 200-run mark. Kolkata’s start in the run chase was disappointing as they lost 3 wickets in the powerplay. Rana proved to be the crisis man for Kolkata as he stitched an explosive partnership with Andre Russell. KKR agonizingly lost the match by 10 runs but Rana impressed everyone with his belligerent batting effort.
80 vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 2021
Unlike the previous knock, this effort did not go in vain as Kolkata Knight Riders came out on top against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) courtesy of Nitish Rana’s innings. Rana opened the innings for KKR and brought the innings back on track with Rahul Tripathi after Shubman Gill’s early departure. This partnership propelled Kolkata’s quest to the 200-run mark though they ended up with 187 runs. This score was enough to get two valuable points as they prevented Hyderabad from chasing the target.