Nitish Rana names biggest influence in cricket, most important knock of his life: WATCH

Dynamic Indian batsman Nitish Rana has earned a reputation of being a dependable player in the Indian Premier League. The left-hander has over the years contributed significantly with the bat for his franchises and has also been a consistent performer in domestic cricket for Delhi. The talented youngster is also expected to play a major role for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 14th edition of the cash-rich league. Ahead of the upcoming edition, the player revealed the knock that had a major impact on his overall cricketing career and also spoke about the cricketer he looks up to. 

IPL 2021: Nitish Rana reveals Gautam Gambhir's influence on his game 

The 27-year-old in the past has been vocal about his admiration for former India opening batsman Gautam Gambhir. In a video shared by the Kolkata Knight Riders on their Instagram account, Rana revealed how during his younger days he would learn a lot just by seeing Gambhir bat in practice sessions. The southpaw highlighted how he would finish his sessions early when he would know that his idol Gambhir was also going to come to the ground.

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Nitish Rana admitted that he would often stand behind the nets and learn a lot from watching the ex-cricketer bat. He also pointed out that while many praise him for playing spinners well, it is Gautam Gambhir who deserves all the credit for that. The manner in which the 39-year-old used to dominate spin bowlers in international cricket fascinated Rana and he stated that he has picked up a lot of things from the player-turned-politician.

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IPL 2021: Nitish Rana on his most special knock 

In the same video, the youngster spoke of a match that had a major impact on his career. He opined that his exploits in the 7th match of the 2017 season proved to be a game-changer for him. The batsman was a part of the Mumbai Indians side for the season and had a vital task of bailing his side out of trouble against a formidable Kolkata Knight Riders bowling attack. Mumbai were chasing an imposing target of 179 in the game, and Nitish Rana starred with the bat to help his side claim a crucial win. 

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The player mentioned that he has seen that knock a number of times now, and also reckoned that if he had not played in such a fashion, he might not have ironically been a part of the KKR setup as well. Rana scored an impressive half-century in the fixture and was ultimately dismissed on 50 after 29 deliveries. Mumbai Indians eventually won the closely fought contest with 1 ball to spare. 

KKR team 2021 

Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert, Shakib Al Hasan, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Sheldon Jackson, Pawan Negi, Venkatesh Iyer, Vaibhav Arora, Ben Cutting. 

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Image source: Nitish Rana Instagram