Kolkata Knight Riders named star batter Nitish Rana as their new skipper on March 27 as the franchise looked to move on from their leadership issue. Rana’s appointment as a new captain came as a bit of a surprise for the fans as the player lacks leadership experience in the Indian Premier League (IPL). But Rana has revealed that he is ready to take extra responsibility and shrugged off captaincy-tag pressure on March 28.
“It (leadership) is not new for me, for the last 2-3 years I have been part of the leadership group. I have got the captaincy tag this time. For the last 2-3 years, I have been part of the leadership role and I am not going to take extra pressure just because of the tag. It’s not good for my game also. I don’t think there is anything new. I love taking responsibility,” Rana said on March 28.
“After 10 days also, there will be pressure. Captaincy is a tag. Whenever you do something for the first time in life, there will be a bit of pressure. As a batter, I have played more than 100 games. A player will be scared of getting out in the first few deliveries,” Rana added.
“There is a responsibility and I like taking responsibility. Shreyas Iyer had an unfortunate injury, we all know that. It’s very unfortunate, and we got the news of not having such a senior and main player at the last moment. But if you keep it aside, the team looks good. And I think the direction that we are taking with this team, I think it will bring the right results.”
“I don’t prefer following anyone (idol) like that. I want to do it in my style because if I try and follow someone in terms of captaincy, I will lose myself, and my individuality. I want to captain in my way and take the team ahead in my own style,” Rana concluded
