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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Nitish Rana said that he has worked on his technique of facing short balls after receiving criticism for the same, which he said "hurt him".
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Thursday. In an interaction with former Indian batter Mohammed Kaif on Star Sports, Rana said, "I have worked on facing the short ball, and it is showing in my batting now. Because many were criticising my technique against the short ball. "Many, many big people, who I would not name, have said things about that (short-ball technique); some even phone-called me directly, and that really hurt me. So, I have worked on my batting, and dedicated my all to the game. I am in a better shape as well, and batting well as well," Rana further added. Nitish is in solid form this season. He has taken the role of KKR skipper and played it to perfection with some memorable victories and knocks. In 11 matches so far, he has scored 326 runs at an average of 29.63. His runs have come at a strike rate of 146.84. Two half-centuries have come out of his bat this season, with best score of 75. Behind Rinku Singh (337 runs), he is the second-highest run-scorer for his side this season. Coming to the match against RR, KKR is in the sixth spot in the points table with five wins and six losses. They have a total of 10 points. On the other hand, RR's campaign has took a turn to bad after some recent losses. They have five wins and six losses as well, which translates to a total of 10 points. With a win, these teams can climb as high as number three in the table and push behind Mumbai Indians, which currently has 12 points with six wins and five losses. Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jason Roy, Anukul Roy, N Jagadeesan, Lockie Ferguson, Kulwant Khejroliya, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mandeep Singh, Johnson Charles, David Wiese, Aarya Desai Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Joe Root, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Murugan Ashwin, Sandeep Sharma, Kuldip Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Devdutt Padikkal, Adam Zampa, Riyan Parag, Jason Holder, Obed McCoy, Trent Boult, Navdeep Saini, Akash Vasisht, KC Cariappa, KM Asif, Kuldeep Sen, Donavon Ferreira, Abdul Basith, Kunal Singh Rathore. (ANI)
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