Former cricketer Aakash Chopra named Nitish Rana the most valuable player of the match following the Kolkata Knight Riders’ impressive victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Notably, the 29-year-old dramatically altered the game’s dynamic as KKR struggled to get going in the middle overs by smashing 48 runs off just 21 deliveries.
The RCB bowlers attacked the Knight Riders hard after Jason Roy was told to return to the pavilion, and that’s when Nitish Rana switched up his approach to give KKR some much-needed impetus. The two-time winners scored 200 runs thanks to his aggressive batting style, and they went on to win their third IPL 2023 match by 21 runs. Chopra determined Rana to be the game’s MVP after considering the impact he made in the center.
“Which player was my most valuable? Although it may be a little contentious, pay close attention to my reasoning. Russell did the job, Suyash Sharma was excellent, Jason Roy scored a half-century, Varun Chakaravarthy took three wickets, and Nitish didn’t even reach the fifty-mark, according to the 45-year-old on his YouTube channel.
I’m claiming Nitish Rana did it.
He naturally scored 48 runs while at bat, which was a little risky. Both Mohammed Siraj and Harshal Patel missed two really simple catches. That was beneficial for Nitish Rana. After that, his captaincy captured your heart since he employed spin frequently after getting so much spin in the first six overs. They considered David Wiese, but Chopra felt David Wiese wouldn’t be able to pull it off, so he went with Andre Russell instead.
The former batter also noted that despite playing at Chinnaswamy, where the team batting second enjoys a significant advantage, the two-time champions entered the match with a clear strategy, which enabled them to defeat RCB.
“Captains don’t always mean what they say at the toss, especially if they lose the toss nine out of ten times. However, it was very sincere of them (KKR) to want to bat first because they could stymie them in the second inning, like they did the last time, with their three spinners, Chopra said.