14 April,2017 09:43 AM IST | | Subodh Mayure
Young Nitish Rana said the advice given to him by former India opener Gautam Gambhir, his Mumbai Indians mentor Sachin Tendulkar and head coach Mahela Jayawardene helped him change his mentality and regain his lost form
Nitish Rana
Mumbai Indians' Nitish Rana
Young Nitish Rana said the advice given to him by former India opener Gautam Gambhir, his Mumbai Indians mentor Sachin Tendulkar and head coach Mahela Jayawardene helped him change his mentality and regain his lost form.
The 23-year-old batsman's crucial 36-ball 45 enabled MI beat defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.
Rana was dropped from the Delhi Ranji Trophy side last season, but has been a completely different player in IPL 10. "I was mentally disturbed at that time. I was unable to enjoy my game and I went into a shell. I think the environment made a lot of difference when I came to Mumbai. There are some big names in my camp like Sachin sir,
Mahela Jayawardene and Rohit bhai (Sharma). When I got out early during my last Ranji Trophy match, I spoke to Gautam bhaiya (Gambhir) at length. He cleared my mind and explained to me what the problem was. He knows me very well from the past 10-12 years as we both played for the same club. When I came to Mumbai, Mahela and Sachin sir told me the same things what Gautam said to me. I tried to do whatever they said and played accordingly. Luckily, it worked for me," Rana said.
The left-handed batsman put on a 38-run partnership with MI opener Parthiv Patel (39). Rana was eventually bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar with MI needing four runs to win. "I should have remained unbeaten in both matches," Rana, whose 50 proved to be the turning point in MI's previous home win over KKR, added.
