3 reasons why Nitish Rana's appointment as captain is a masterstroke by KKR

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have appointed Nitish Rana as their captain for IPL 2023. Rana has replaced Shreyas Iyer as the team's captain after the latter picked up a back injury, which has ruled him out of the season's first few matches.

Rana has been a member of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad since 2018. The left-handed batter has represented KKR in 74 matches thus far, aggregating 1,744 runs at an average of almost 28. He has registered 11 half-centuries for the Knight Riders, with his highest score being 87.

Over the last five years, Rana has become an integral part of the Kolkata Knight Riders team. He has never led an IPL franchise before, but here are three reasons why appointing him as their new captain was a masterstroke from the KKR team management.

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#1 Nitish Rana has experience of leading Delhi team at the domestic level

One of the most important things needed to lead an IPL side is experience. If a player knows how to captain a team, he can bring out the best performances from his teammates.

Nitish Rana has captained Delhi at the domestic level. Interestingly, former Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi captain Gautam Gambhir picked him as the next man to lead Delhi after him. In an interview with kkr.in back in 2020, Rana revealed how becoming the Delhi captain was the biggest achievement of his career.

"If you ask me about the biggest achievement of my career, I will say it was being appointed Delhi captain. The best feeling was to see Gambhir playing his last year [of domestic cricket] while I was captain," Rana had said.

"Gambhir had said that I was the right candidate to lead Delhi. Imagine such statements coming from your idol. This had to be one of the biggest moments of my life," he added.

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#2 Appointing an overseas captain would have impacted the team balance throughout the season

Kolkata Knight Riders have some experienced foreign players like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, and Tim Southee in their squad. Some fans felt that the Knight Riders may opt for an overseas skipper, with Narine emerging as one of the contenders.

However, the KKR team management eventually went with Nitish Rana. It was a good call by the management to choose an Indian captain as appointing an overseas captain has hurt IPL teams in the past when the skipper could not contribute his bit as a batter or a bowler.

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#3 Nitish Rana is a familiar face in the KKR universe

Earlier today, a report emerged claiming that Shardul Thakur was among the contenders to become KKR's new captain. Both Thakur and Rana have never captained in the IPL, but the latter has been familiar with the franchise officials for five years.

Rana is also a popular face in the KKR fanbase, whereas Thakur has just joined the KKR squad this year. Appointing Thakur as captain could have been the wrong move as it would have put the new recruit under enormous pressure.

Since Nitish Rana is familiar with the backroom staff and most of the KKR players, he can do a good job as the captain.