Kolkata Knight Riders captain Nitish Rana, who has gained immense praise for coming across as a calm and composed captain, put forward a contrary side of his personality during Indian Premier League 2023 Match 22 against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium today.
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Been also lauded for his communication skills in his maiden IPL season as a captain, 29-year old Rana was involved in a heated verbal battle with Indians spinner Hrithik Shokeen.
It all happened on the first delivery of the ninth over after Shokeen picked his first wicket in the form of Rana. Bowling the second over of his first spell, Shokeen deceived Rana into playing a big shot. Not timing the ball like he did in his last two innings, all the left-handed batter did was hit the ball straight to substitute fielder Ramandeep Singh at long-on.
It was at this very moment when Rana appeared to have been irked by something said by the bowler as part of a send-off. Not taking Shokeen’s words lightly, Rana didn’t mind giving it back to him. What followed were swearing words from both the parties.
With Shokeen eventually moving towards the opposite side, Mumbai stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav and spinner Piyush Chawla intervened in an attempt to make peace between the two before Rana walked back to the pavilion after scoring 5 (10).
It is noteworthy that both Rana and Shokeen play domestic cricket for Delhi. Taking into consideration several reports of rift between players of Delhi, it wouldn’t be a surprise to know that the two aren’t on the best of terms with each other.
Nitish Rana and Hrithik Shokeen Fight Video
Words exchanged between Nitish Rana and Hrithik Shokeen pic.twitter.com/gb4atRqCNs
— All About Cricket (@allaboutcric_) April 16, 2023
Hrithik Shokeen Age
Born in 2000, 22-year old Shokeen is currently playing his second IPL season. The off-spinner was not among the 13 players released by MI before IPL 2023 auction last year.