Nitish Rana has made quite a name for himself in the Indian Premier League and has played for two champion teams in Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians. Having made his debut in 2016, he has played 46 matches with 1085 runs, 8 half-centuries, and a best of 85* with a strike rate of 134.61.

One of the best middle-order batsmen in the T20 league the Delhi player was first picked up by Mumbai Indians in the 2015 auction. He played for the MI franchise in 2016 and 2017 and was then bought by Kolkata Knight Riders.

In a recent chat in Cricbuzz’s YouTube show Spicy Pitch, Rana revealed that how he got to know that Mumbai Indians’ legend Sachin Tendulkar had noticed Rana’s talent. “My friend overheard a conversation between Sachin Tendulkar and the Mumbai Indians manager Rahul Sanghvi, and told me that I had caught Sachin sir’s notice. He asked ‘Who’s this boy?’. He had clearly taken notice of me. That felt really good,” the batsman revealed.

Laxman in awe of Sachin Tendulkar’s remarkable quality of "staying grounded despite adulation"

During the show, Rana also said that when the auction was going on, he was actually batting in a match and his friends told him that he was picked by MI in the auctions.

“When I called for drinks, I was told that I’ve been picked by Mumbai Indians. I couldn’t - in fact, didn’t - believe it. Perhaps my friend was taking a joke too far. And then, when he insisted, I knew he wasn’t kidding,” Rana said.

Rana, who has developed into a brilliant finisher, revealed how a great piece of advice from Ricky Ponting changed his game forever. Ponting was part of the MI support staff in 2016 and in a game against Gujarat Lions in IPL 2016, advised Rana to go after the bowling.

“Just don’t defend. You have the ability to hit the ball. Just hit the ball. Hard. That game changed everything for me. Since then, I’ve never had doubted myself and whether or not I belong at this level,” the 26-year-old, who scored 70 off 36 balls in that match, said.