IPL 2021: “The wicket wasn’t as good as Nitish Rana made it look” - Eoin Morgan

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Eoin Morgan has hailed Nitish Rana for playing an amazing knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday in Chennai. According to Morgan, Nitish Rana made batting look very easy on a surface that was not easy to bat on.

Nitish Rana was named the Man of the Match for his brilliant knock of 80 off 56 balls. The left-hander slammed nine fours and four sixes in his innings as KKR posted 187 for 6 batting first. They then restricted SRH to 177 for 5 to get their IPL 2021 campaign underway with a win.

Speaking at a virtual press conference post his team's victory, Eoin Morgan said that he was very pleased with the way Nitish Rana batted. He said in this regard:

“The wicket probably wasn’t as good as he (Nitish Rana) made it look. We are all really delighted for him. Obviously a match-winning innings today.”

Specifying what he liked about the left-hander’s innings, the KKR captain said:

“The thing that impressed me most about his innings today was the method which he used. He played really aggressively and always took a positive option, which really did set up our batting innings. That allowed the middle-order players (to play with freedom). Obviously Rahul (Tripathi) played extremely well. And it allowed the lower middle-order players (to go all out), one of which came off today in Dinesh Karthik. So yeah, happy for Nitish.”

Setting the tone for the season 👌🏼Read all about our victorious start to the new campaign ⤵️#KKRHaiTaiyaar #SRHvKKR #IPL2021

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 11, 2021

Nitish Rana’s game is in really good touch: Eoin Morgan

The last few days have been tough for Nitish Rana. He initially tested positive for COVID-19, raising question marks about his participation in the tournament.

Thankfully, Nitish Rana tested negative in a subsequent test and was allowed to join the KKR squad after completing his isolation. Asked if he had any specific chat with Nitish Rana with regards his the battle with COVID-19, Morgan said:

“It was just catching up basically. He was delighted to be out of quarantine and have a negative test. Then he joined the squad and got back into playing in the camp. He batted in the practice match as well. His game is in really good touch. We witnessed that today.”

Nitish Rana set the stage on fire with the bat and won the Man of the Match award for his superb show in Match 3 of the #VIVOIPL. 👏👏#SRHvKKR pic.twitter.com/GV2EY3R2u6

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 11, 2021

Apart from Nitish Rana’s 80, Rahul Tripathi contributed a whirlwind 53 off 29 balls, while Dinesh Karthik blasted an unbeaten 22 off 9 balls to lift KKR to a competitive total.