Nitish Rana was unwell one day before scoring 81 off 36, but a call from Rahul Dravid charged him up: 'When he said...'
Nitish Rana said that he was unwell a day before he took the CSK bowlers to the cleaners and a call from Rahul Dravid provided him better clarity on his role.
Rajasthan Royals' Nitish Rana has revealed that it is a conversation with head coach Rahul Dravid that helped him put behind poor health and play a match winning knock on Sunday against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2025 season of the IPL. It was a welcome victory for a side that had come under all kinds of scrutiny after being blown out of the park by last year's runners up Sunrisers Hyderabad in their season opener and then by defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders.
"Those two points were extremely important. We probably should've got that at the start of the tournament but it's ok, there were lots of learnings to take as well from the first two matches and we could implement those things in this game and take the two points," Rana says in a video posted on RR's Twitter handle.
Rana said that he had missed practice a day before the match because of poor health. However, he found a way to mentally get ready for the game when Dravid told him what his role will be. "Rahul sir had called me yesterday after I missed practice because I wasn't feeling too well. He called to tell me that I will be batting at No.3 and I am always ready for these kind of challenges. I enjoy it when someone banks on me and I like taking that responsibility.
“So when he said that to me I analysed myself the kind of shots I can play on this wicket which will help me and my team. That is what I banked on and when the time comes, the runs come,” said Rana. Rana had batted at No.4 in the first two matches for RR. He fell for an eight-ball 11 against SRH and a nine-ball eight against KKR. He came a position above stand-in skipper Riyan Parag against CSK though and smashed the ball all over the park. Rana ended up scoring 81 runs in just 36 balls tonking five sixes and 10 fours.
“I was trying to do the same in the first two matches as well but the reality is that when you come with your own game plan and give yourself an edge by analysing the game a day before, that helps a lot. It has helped me throughout the year in all kinds of cricket that I have played and I was concentrating on that same process. Finally, it bore fruit,” said Rana.
