Nitish Rana is a supremely talented cricketer. The southpaw has made a name for himself in the IPL, scoring heaps of runs and even leading KKR in the 2023 edition. Although known primarily for his hitting prowess, the batter is a fine red-ball player as well.
Earlier today, the southpaw rescued his side Uttar Pradesh against Mumbai in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024. His counter-attacking inning saw him score a comeback hundred, coming off just 105 balls.
Having entered the field with his side 136-4, Nitish Rana scored 106 runs and took Uttar Pradesh to 324. His brilliant attacking knock proved to be his first first-class hundred since the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season.
Rana, ready to make a roaring comeback
After the end of the second day’s play, having given his side an upper hand, Rana talked with Cricbuzz about how he let his focus shift from red-ball (first-class) cricket to T20 cricket. He added that he regrets making the decision and is bound to prove to himself that he’s a good red-ball player.
“I like to perform well when the team is in trouble. During the Covid years, when the IPL was held in two phases, I had shifted my focus away from red-ball cricket a little bit. So, that set me back somewhat. This year I have worked very hard with the red ball because I wanted to prove, not to anyone else, but to myself that I can be a good red-ball player.”
Nitish Rana aims to silence his critics
Nitish Rana also talked about how his critics had started saying that he wasn’t up to the mark in red-ball cricket. He added that he doesn’t want to listen to them anymore
“It was my mistake that I wasn’t focusing on red-ball cricket. A lot of people had started talking that I wasn’t a red-ball player, and I would not have had to listen to that talk.“
Having scored his comeback ton, he said and feels like a big score is around the corner.
“Since I switched from Delhi (this year), my target has been to make my name in red-ball cricket again. I remember in 2020 or 21 (2019-20) I scored my last hundred (this is his seventh three-figure score). I had lost the habit of scoring hundreds. I now know how to play hundreds.”
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