"It’ll happen again very soon" - Nitish Rana reflects on his India debut 2 years ago
India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Nitish Rana reflected on his international debut two years ago while also eyeing a comeback "very soon" on Sunday.
The left-hander debuted against Sri Lanka in 2021, on a tour India sent a second-string side because the first team was in England. He played the final of the three-ODI series but batted at No.7, out of his usual top-order position, and scored 7 (14).
Rana also featured in two T20Is T20Is but couldn't impress, scoring 9 (12) and 6 (15) while batting at number five.
"23.07.21 - Reflecting on one of the most important days of my life. The thrill of representing our country runs deep and I’m grateful it happened. It’ll happen again very soon. Believe."
KKR skipper did well in IPL 2023, scoring his tournament-best of 413 runs at an average of 31.77 and a strike rate of 140.96. He also stood in as KKR's captain in Shreyas Iyer's absence. They finished seventh but he was praised for his batting and on-field calls to keep them afloat despite lacking their best batter and overall balance.
He would have expected a call-up to the squad for the 2023 Asia Games in China. The bandaged-heart emoji that he shared as a Twitter post recently suggested that as well. India will send a second-string team to China with most of the fringe (the tournament will clash with the 2023 World Cup), including many IPL stars.
India's squad for Asia Games 2023: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, and Prabhsimran Singh (wk)
Nitish Rana will lead North Zone in the Deodhar Trophy
However, the BCCI selectors have indicated that he isn't too far from a national call-up either. Nitish Rana was selected as the captain of North Zone in the Deodhar Trophy, which begins on Monday, July 24.
North Zone squad for Deodhar Trophy: Nitish Rana (c), Abhishek Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh, SG Rohilla, S Khajuria, Mandeep Singh, Himanshu Rana, Vivrant Sharma, Nishant Sindhu, Rishi Dhawan, Yudhvir Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, and Mayank Markande.