"Challenges Are Everywhere": KKR Head Coach's Honest Take On New Skipper Nitish Rana

29.03.2023 - 07:13 sports.ndtv.com

Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Chandrakant Pandit is hoping that their full time skipper Shreyas Iyer will return to action "very soon" and until then, he expects Nitish Rana to do well in the high-pressure leadership role.

A recurring back injury is likely to keep Iyer out of action for the first half of the IPL. He had also missed the first and fourth Test against Australia due to the persistent back issues. "Whatever little cricket I have played or coached, I have never gone back over things like squad unavailability.

Shreyas' absence will make a difference since he is important, but this is truly unfortunate. "We are hoping Shreyas will be back very soon and that will make a lot of difference to the team," Pandit said on Tuesday night.

Stand-in captain Rana is an experienced campaigner and has been part of the KKR set up for the last five seasons. Pandit is supremely confident of Rana's leadership abilities. "When we select players and give responsibility to players, we see who is capable.

cricket Kolkata Knight Riders Head Coach on Shreyas Iyer Nitish Rana Australia Kolkata

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Nitish Rana urged his bowlers to improve after they suffered a five wickets defeat by Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. Venkatesh Iyer's maiden ton went in vain as Ishan Kishan's fifty and Suryakumar Yadav's quick-fire knock of 43 runs guided Mumbai Indians (MI) to a 5-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. "They targeted our best bowlers and it paid off for them. We could have done better in the powerplay. I would want my bowling unit to deliver more. Anyone can have a bad game or two but it is happening consistently with us. We will go back to the dressing room and talk about it" said Rana during his post-match presentation.

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