Nitish Rana says, taking over from Gautam Gambhir as Delhi captain has been my biggest achievement

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batsman Nitish Rana says, that the biggest achievement of his career so far has been taking over the captaincy of Delhi from his idol Gautam Gambhir. Nitish Rana has been grew up idolising two Indian Premier League (IPL) captian. Rana became a fan of Sourav Ganguly and grew up copying his style in street cricket. But the man who greatly inspired Nitish Rana was Gautam Gambhir.

Nitish Rana and Gautam Gambhir together played club cricket in Delhi and, Gautam Gambhir was Rana’s first captain when he first played for Ranji Trophy for Delhi. Ranjit and Gambhir never got the chance to play together though, with Nitish Rana joining the team in 2018, the same year Gambhir left for the Delhi Capitals.

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When Gautam Gambhir stepped down as Delhi captain in 2018, it was Nitish Rana who took over.

“If you ask me about the biggest achievement of my career, I will say it was being appointed Delhi captain,” Rana said. “The best feeling was to see Gambhir playing his last year [of domestic cricket] while I was captain. I played my first year under him and he played his last year under me. 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.” Nitish Rana told.

Nitish Rana recalls his favourite game for Kolkata Knight Riders ( KKR).

Nitish Rana revealing his favourite game for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) was his debut game for the franchise. Nitish Rana had made 34 runs with the bat and had picked up crucial wickets of Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB) skipper of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. These wickets turned the game on its head and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) emerged as victory.

Nitish Rana also spoke about how Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Dinesh Karthik’s advice after that game helped him become a better player.

“My first Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) match is my debut match – against RCB – when I got Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers out in one over. Made 34 too in our win. I was out that day playing poor shot”. Nitish Rana said.

“Dinesh Karthik told me that day that if you want to be a big player, you need to finish games, and that has stayed with me. It was an important game for me, coming into a brand-new side, that performance was comforting” added Nitish Rana.

Nitish Rana will be back in action for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).