"The brand of cricket McCullum wants, Shreyas Iyer also desires the same" - Nitish Rana on clarity within KKR dressing room in IPL 2022Β
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Nitish Rana feels there is better clarity in the dressing room with coach Brendon McCullum and captain Shreyas Iyer's shared mindset. The two-time champions have been known for their aggressive brand of cricket under the regime of the former Kiwi international as head coach.
Newly-appointed captain Shreyas Iyer has been vocal about employing an aggressive approach that bodes well for McCullum's vision. Iyer has previously asserted that the team will continue with the same approach despite the poor result against RCB.
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Admitting that the presence of a young captain has elevated the energy levels in the dressing room, Rana said ahead of KKR's match against PBKS:
"I would like to say that with a young captain coming in, there has been a change in the dressing room atmosphere. The energy levels have gone up a bit more than before because the brand of cricket McCullum desires, Shreyas Iyer also wishes the same. So, there is better clarity in the dressing room and that might play an important part this year."
Noting that the introduction of two new franchises has increased the competition level, Rana said:
"The entire team is excited about the season with the two new teams being added, the competition has increased, so it feels good. We have been playing cricket the way we want to so far. So, so far it has been good overall."
The ongoing IPL season is the first campaign since the 2011 edition to feature ten franchises. This has brought back the group format, which ensures that teams only have to play 14 matches despite an increase in the teams.
"Sometimes there is no dew at all and sometimes there is too much dew" - Nitish Rana on the Wankhede Stadium
The presence of dew in the second half of the contest has ensured that six out of seven matches played have gone in favor of the side chasing. The Wankhede Stadium, like the other venues, has sported enough dew to aid the side bowling first.
Opining that the dew factor is unpredictable, Rana said:
"We were chasing around 130 against CSK at the Wankhede and it was not that easy. The dew factor is there definitely but we have seen in some practice sessions that there is no dew at all and sometimes there is too much dew. So we cannot say whether there would be any dew or not. But we definitely want to bowl first if we win the toss. Any score over 180 should be good over here."
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KKR will look to get back to winning ways when they face PBKS at the Wankhede Stadium today.