Ahead of the start of IPL 2017, Nitish Rana was a man with low confidence, as the highest run-scorer for Delhi in his debut Ranji season, had a terrible tournament the very next year.
The torrid form continued to follow him in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well. This saw him getting dropped from the Vijay Hazare tournament midway just after three games.
Gautam Gambhir, the Indian batsman who was replaced by Rishabh Pant as the captain of the side, took on coach KP Bhaskar for playing with careers of youngsters like Rana and Unmukt Chand.
According to reports, Gambhir had a spat with the coach after Delhi’s poor form in the List A tournament.
Later, Gambhir openly criticised Bhaskar. Both coach and former skipper were called by the state association DDCA and a panel was formed to look into the matter.
On the sideline, Nitish Rana was still the man who was searching for his form. The ‘Another Gautam Gambhir’ from Delhi, a name with which people recognise Rana got inputs from Gambhir and incidentally it was against Kolkata Knight Riders that Rana brought his first half century of this year’s IPL and helped the team chase down a big total in a thriller,
“As my form dipped and I got out early in a couple of one-dayers, Gambhir spoke to me regarding my technique. After coming over here, I spoke to Sachin sir and Mahela sir regarding the same and both said that Gambhir was right and from the first day I started practising that way. I have a low stance and there was a problem with me being side-on. They asked me to be upright and open up my shoulder a bit more to help me get a better look at the ball,” Rana told Hindustan times.
Rana, who has been with the Mumbai-based franchise since 2015, got his first game last year and till the start of this season, he was not thinking to get a place in the playing XI right from the offset. The left-hand batsman, when got a chance, proved that skipper Rohit has trusted the right prospect, as Rana, till now, has been twice the holder of orange cap and is in the race to don the cap again,
“Frankly speaking, I feel if a person doesn’t fail in life he won’t be able to learn anything. I knew something this big was on the cards. I failed a lot, people commented as well, but I ignored it and believed in myself, trusted my game and worked hard. Today, I’m getting the rewards for what I’ve put in,” added Rana.
He has already got a promotion in the batting line up riding on his great performance and surely the Delhiite’s name will be discussed when selectors sit down to select the team for the Champions Trophy.
Though he might lose the race to experienced players but the boy from Delhi has done enough to gain spotlight and make selectors think about him once, at least.