IPL 2018| Nitish Rana certainly has bright future with KKR, says Jacques Kallis

Nitish Rana has continued his brilliant form in this season of the IPL. He has got runs, wickets (whenever he got the opportunity) and has been good in the field as well. Much like last year, where he played for Mumbai Indians, Rana has started the season in an impressive manner. Last year, he scored 255 runs in his first six innings before he tapered away towards the end of the tournament. 

In this season, he has amassed 165 runs so far at an average of 33.00 and a strike-rate of 135.25. He’s also picked up 4 wickets and they are AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and D’Arcy Short. The 24-year-old Delhi batsman has also won a couple of Man of the Match awards, becoming a mainstay in the Kolkata Knight Riders squad.

Head coach Jacques Kallis has been quite impressed with the left-handed youngster. Last year playing for MI, Rana had struck a superb 29-ball 50 against KKR and has been on the KKR’s radar since. 

“He played well against us in Mumbai. We had heard some good things about him but perhaps didn’t get as many games for MI as he would have liked. He certainly has got a bright future with KKR,” Kallis was quoted saying by The Hindu.

Rana has also enjoyed the backing of the entire KKR management, which Kallis and the support staff wanted to convey to the 24-year-old youngster. 

“We had given him a message that he will be a settled member in the side and he just needs to showcase his talent. We are backing him 100 per cent and certainly it has paid off,” the KKR head coach said. 

KKR are currently third on the points table with 6 points (3 wins and 3 losses). After starting with a win, they lost a couple of games before they came storming back to win two on the bounce. However, they lost their last game against Kings XI Punjab and are now tied with two other teams on six points. Their next game is on Sunday and Kallis is seeing it as a good time to reflect on their mistakes.

“We are in the mid-table now, the other end would not have been nice. We have played some good cricket. It’s nice to get a few days off and regroup in Delhi and hope to return to winning ways,” the 42-year-old said.