Cricket News

‘Ab Delhi wale Kolkata ko lead karenge’ – Fans react as Kolkata announce Nitish Rana as skipper for Indian T20 League 2023

Published on March 27, 2023

On Monday, March 27, the Kolkata franchise announced middle-order batter Nitish Rana as their new skipper for the upcoming edition of the Indian T20 League (ITL), which is scheduled to kick off on March 31 at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium where the defending champions, the Gujarat franchise will lock horns against MS Dhoni-led Chennai side.

During the fourth Test match against Australia, Shreyas Iyer sustained a back injury. After that, he was unable to even bat in India’s opening innings and was sent for a scan. The next ODI series against Australia, without this player, is a big challenge. His participation in the Indian T20 League is also doubtful. Back injuries can occasionally be difficult to heal, therefore it is uncertain how long Iyer will need to recover in this case.

He will get all the support needed off the field: Kolkata Franchise

“While we are hopeful that Shreyas will recover and participate at some stage in the Indian T20 League 2023 edition, we feel fortunate that Nitish, with the captaincy experience having led his state side in white ball cricket and the ITL experience he has had with the Kolkata franchise since 2018, will do a great job,” confirmed the franchise in an official statement.

“We are also confident that under Head Coach Chandrakant Pandit and the support staff, he will get all the support needed off the field, and the highly experienced leaders in the squad will provide all support that Nitish may need on the field. We wish him the best in his new role and Shreyas a full and speedy recovery,” the statement added.

In his 91 Indian T20 League games so far, Rana has scored 2181 runs at an average of 27.96. He has 15 half-centuries to his name, with an 87 as his best. Rana has also represented the Mumbai franchise in addition to the Kolkata side. Rana joined Kolkata in 2018 and has over 300 runs in every five of the previous seasons. He previously served as the captain of Delhi in domestic competition as well.

Rana made his international debut in 2021 while travelling with Shikhar Dhawan led team India to Sri Lanka. He has participated in two T20Is and one ODI, scoring 15 and 7 runs respectively.

Here’s how fans reacted on Nitish Rana’s appointment:

Congratulations Nitish Rana
Best wishes for your new mission🙌
— VENKAT REDDY (@Venkat10761) March 27, 2023

KKR management. pic.twitter.com/7I7dFDE1XW
— Ashru (@humorash) March 27, 2023

I mean jst to save Shreyas’s captaincy they hv chosen him😂. So many deserved players already in the team. He lost once to Rishabh while in DC as he was out with injury so lft them, can understand his insecurity. 😄 evrione is greedy for power n brand I must say
— FiKaRnOt (@fikarnot07) March 27, 2023