IPL 2020: ‘I was an admirer of Sourav Ganguly,’ Nitish Rana explains similarities in playing style

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batsman Nitish Rana spoke about his admiration and love for Sourav Ganguly since his childhood. Rana said that imitating the former India captain has led to his batting style having a semblance to Ganguly’s.

“I was great at mimicking the styles of bowler and batsman [sic]. Everyone used to ask me to act like Dada and I used to do that happily. So, I guess the repeated imitation led to a habit and moulded my batting style to a certain extent,” Rana told KKR’s official website.

Rana revealed that he would even lock himself up in a room if Ganguly got out early and this was even before he started playing cricket. But, such days were fewer because Ganguly has scored over 18,000 runs in international cricket. And, that is exactly what Nitish Rana is working on – consistency.

“I am actually trying to work this out with Abhishek Nayar and Sanjay sir. I am still figuring out as to why my performance dips after a good start. This has been a recurring incident with me even in domestic seasons... I have got somewhat better in the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in comparison to the first one. But honestly, I am not in a rush to change everything in one season,” Nitish Rana concluded.

Nitish Rana has shown steady improvement

Nitish Rana was bought by KKR for INR 3.40 crore in the 2018 player auction. Image Credits: Cricket Addictor

Indeed, there has been a consistent improvement throughout Nitish Rana’s IPL career. He has racked up 300 plus runs in every single IPL season ever since he became a regular squad member, first with the Mumbai Indians and now with KKR. Rana, however, had his best season in IPL 2019 when he scored 344 runs at an average of 34.40 and also accounted for Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in a single over with his part-time off-spin.

Nitish Rana will look to sustain the steady rise in his graph and aim for consistent performances in IPL 2020 to help KKR become IPL champions for the third time.