IPL2024: Nitish Rana hopes to qualify for the T20 World Cup by leading KKR to a “600” run season

Nitish Rana, a batter for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), expressed his desire to make an impression on the Indian team for the T20 World Cup, which will take place in the United States and the West Indies later this year.

Rana participated in one ODI and two T20Is for the Men in Blue against Sri Lanka at the RPS in Colombo in 2021. Rana was dropped from the squad after he was unable to score in the double digits on even one occasion.

The left-hander, nevertheless, seemed optimistic about regaining his position. The southpaw predicted that in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, he may score more than 600 runs for the Knight Riders.

“We have to be focused on the here and now, but everyone wants to play for their nation, and many players will always have that as a goal. While I also want to be chosen for the World T20 team, my current focus is only on the Indian Premier League. I think I can get 600 runs in this competition, and that’s what I’m going to strive for,” Rana said to The Times of India (TOI).

A summary of Nitish Rana’s IPL career
In 2016, Rana made his IPL debut as a Mumbai Indian (MI) player. Prior to the 2018 Indian Premier League, he spent two seasons with the five-time winners before joining the Knight Riders.

Rana scored runs in the 300s with two or three half-centuries every season from 2017 to 2022. However, he went over the 400-run threshold for the first time last year.

Rana scored 413 runs at an average of 31.77 and a strike-rate of 140.96 in 14 games in 2023, with three fifties to show for his efforts.

When KKR kicks off its IPL 2024 campaign at Eden Gardens on March 23 against Pat Cummins’ Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Rana will have a difficult challenge ahead of him.