Delhi and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batsman Nitish Rana believes that his maiden India call-up is on the cards for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour in July, saying he will soon get the reward for his performance in the domestic cricket and Indian Premier League (IPL) over the years.
BCCI is likely to field a second-string team for the white-ball series in Sri Lanka with the Indian cricket team led by Virat Kohli gearing up for the mega ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand and a five-match Test series against England starting next month.
While Indian cricketers like Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah will be on more than three-month-long England tour, BCCI will certainly introduce a number of uncapped cricketers on the Sri Lanka tour and Rana hopes he will finally get a maiden India call-up for the white-ball series in July 2021.
Rana told PTI in an interview: “It is there at the back of my mind that my name should come (in the squad) and I am prepared for that because I feel my name would come.”
He added, “If you pick and see my record for the last three years in white-ball, be it domestic or the IPL, I have performed well and I feel that I will get the reward for it today or tomorrow. And I feel I am ready for international cricket and I am waiting for that like they say one call away…I am waiting for that call,”
The left-hander has scored 2,266 runs from 38 first-class games at an average of 40 while 1940 runs in 58 List A games, as well as 2725 T20 runs in 116 appearances. The KKR opener also scored 201 runs from 7 matches in the recently suspended IPL 2021.
On his irregular form in the IPL, Rana noted: “To be very honest, from the last 3-4 years, it has been a pattern for me that I start the season well, in mid-season, I have 2-3 flop innings and then at the end of the season I play 1-2 innings well. So always, the total (runs) scored are in between 330-400.”
The 29-year-old also admitted that his hunger to score runs used to vanish after three-four matches and the coaches advised him to address the issue to be a consistent performer.
He further explained, “I added many skills mentally in my game and normal life. I felt that in the last 2-3 years, I used to become very happy that I am performing well and it should continue, but the hunger to score runs used to finish. My coaches said a hungry Nitish Rana should stay alive, it will make you consistent. It is not guaranteed that you will score runs in every match but the ratio improves.”
On the suspension of the IPL 14, Rana said: “We have got a break this season, so I am unable to understand whether I should be happy or sad. I should be unhappy because I have been reflecting on why my season goes this way as I am trying to be consistent for myself and my franchise.”
He signed off by saying, “So having worked a lot, this was the correct time to see whether it worked for me or not…but right now I am looking at it in such a way that it is better that I have got a break and as a batter, I can start afresh.”
(With PTI Inputs)
