3 biggest captaincy mistakes by Nitish Rana in IPL 2023
It was Shreyas Iyer's unfortunate injury that not only ruled him out of IPL 2023 but also forced the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to appoint a new captain in Nitish Rana for the season.
Rana has done reasonably well in the role, managing to win five matches out of 12 so far, which has kept them alive in the race for the playoffs.
But there have been instances where his tactics and strategies were completely off the mark, which not only irked the cricket pundits but also cost his team the match.
In this article, we will discuss three such moments when Nitish Rana's wrong moves cost KKR two points this season.
3 biggest captaincy mistakes by Nitish Rana in IPL 2023
#3. Sending Shardul Thakur at 3 against GT, 39th Match, Eden Gardens
It was again a poor start for KKR as Narayan Jagdeeshan was trapped in front when he moved across to flick a fuller-length delivery off Mohammed Shami in the third over of the match.
KKR already had two right-handers at the top who were already struggling against the hard-length deliveries from pacers as well as against GT's leg spinners and left-arm spinners, but to shock everyone, Nitish Rana decided to send another right-hander in Shardul Thakur.
This was the first time Thakur has been sent to bat at No. 3 in his T20 career, with the highest position he had batted before that day being No. 4 in the 2021 Qualifier, where he played for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and registered a golden duck against the Delhi Capitals (DC).
Rana's move to promote Thakur didn't work either, as he tried to muscle a short of a good length delivery from Shami to mid-on, where Mohit Sharma completed a fine running catch to send the batsman for a four-ball duck, leaving KKR in a dire situation.
#2. Sending Anukul Roy at 3 against Punjab Kings, 2nd Match, Mohali
When you are chasing a huge total requiring almost 10 runs per over, you rely on your main batsmen to bail you out more often than not.
But KKR, playing against the Punjab Kings, opted a strategy that no one could understand.
Chasing 192 on a belter of a wicket, with rain looming around, a result from the DLS method was always on the cards. And after KKR openers Mandeep Singh and Rahmanullah Gurbaz failed to provide them with a good start, it would have been a wise decision to send someone like Venkatesh Iyer, who was accustomed to opening till the last season, to maintain the tempo of the innings.
But skipper Nitish Rana sent a rookie bowling all-rounder, Anukul Roy, who has never batted above 5 in his entire T20 career, only for him to get bounced out by Arshdeep Singh at mid-wicket.
This derailed the chase, and eventually they lost the match by the DLS method by a mere seven runs.
#1. Bowling the first over himself against RR, 56th Match, Eden Gardens
On a pitch that was on the slower side and had enough assistance for the spinners, KKR decided to play four spinners against the Rajasthan Royals, including the likes of Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Varun Chakravarthy, and Anukul Roy.
But the batsman disappointed the KKR bowling unit, as they couldn't even give them a total in excess of 150.
The score was below par, but they still had something to bowl at. But then came the most bizarre and dreadful decision from Nitish Rana, which took everyone by surprise.
Nitish Rana decided to bowl the first over of the innings despite having four quality spinners. The move was destined to fail, with Yashasvi Jaiswal smoking Rana 6, 6, 4, 4, 2, 4 for 26 runs in the very first over of the match, almost instantly killing all hopes of a KKR win.