Rana feels honoured on being named Kolkata’s new captain

Finch believes the opening pair of captain Rahul and wicketkeeper-bater Quinton de Kock are the biggest strengths of Lucknow Super Giants in the run-up to 2023 season of the IPL

On being named captain of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the upcoming IPL 2023, let-handed bater Nitish Rana said it is a great opportunity for him to showcase his leadership skills.

Rana has been at KKR since 2018 and has previously led his domestic cricket team Delhi in 12 T20 matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, resulting in eight wins and four losses. He becomes the skipper in the absence of Shreyas Iyer, who is suffering from a back injury.

“KKR has been my home since 2018 and It’s an honour to lead them. This captaincy instils my belief of performing at the highest level.”

“It’s a great opportunity for me to showcase my leadership skills and I will be using all my experience to not just bring the best out of me but also from my team. I also wish for a speedy recovery for Shreyas and I am looking forward to the new challenge ahead of me,” he said to IANS.

Earlier, while announcing Rana as the captain of the side for the 2023 IPL, KKR also said they are hopeful of Iyer recovering and participating in the tournament at some stage. Rana, who also bowls handy off-spin and has one ODI as well as T20I appearance for India in 2021, has been a vital cog in the wheel of KKR’S bating order since 2018.

Rana, 29, has amassed 450 runs from 14 innings at the Eden Gardens for KKR, averaging 34.62 at a strike rate of 140.19. Overall, he has scored 2181 runs in 91 matches of the IPL at an average of 28.32 and strike-rate of 134.22, including 15 fities.

Iyer, on the other hand, had been doubful to participate in IPL 2023 ater suffering a recurrence of a lower back injury during the fourth Border-gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

He had missed the ODIS against New Zealand as well as the first Test against Australia due to a lower back injury. Though he did play in the second and third Tests against Australia, Iyer suffered a relapse of the lower back injury a’ter day three’s play at Ahmedabad and was taken for scans.

It meant he did not come out to bat in India’s only innings and was ruled out of the rest of the drawn Test match. He was then subsequently ruled out of ODIS against Australia held earlier this month.

While IPL 2023 starts on March 31, Kolkata are scheduled to play their first match of the tournament on April 1, against Shikhar Dhawanled Punjab Kings at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. Kolkata will play their first home game at the Eden Gardens on April 6 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Meanwhile, Former Australia skipper Aaron Finch believes the opening pair of captain K.L Rahul and wicketkeeper-bater Quinton de Kock are the biggest strengths of Lucknow Super Giants in the run-up to 2023 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

In their maiden IPL season last year, the side, captained by Rahul, finished third in the league stage with nine wins and five defeats. They crashed out of the competition ater losing to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eliminator at Kolkata.

But deko ck will miss lucknow’ s first two matches against Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings on April 1 and 3 respectively as South Africa will be engaged in an ODI series against the Netherlands.

“The big strength of the Lucknow Super Giants is their opening combination, K.L Rahul and Quinton de Kock. They complement each other so well. They are very different players, and their strengths and weaknesses offset each other. So, I think if they are going to have a big season.” “I think the home ground advantage for the Lucknow Super Giants this year, although their wicket has been a litle unpredictable at times, they’ve got a class opening combination in KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock, their middle order power of Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, and they’ve got a lot of bowling options, Krunal Pandya with the ball, who can also be versatile with the bat. So, I think they have got a lot of options to be able to exploit whatever the wicket produces,” said Finch on the ‘Know Your Team’ show on Star Sports.