KKR vs LSG IPL 2024: Will Nitish Rana return as Kolkata take on Lucknow at Eden Gardens? Whom will he replace?

livemint.com:

KKR vs LSG IPL 2024: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will take on Lucknow Supergiants (LSG) at home on April 14. It will be KKR’s 5th match in IPL 2024. They have won 3 matches in the tournament so far, standing at number 2 on the points table.

While they have been performing well, a key member of the team has been missing in action: Vice Captain Nitish Rana. Rana has played only one match in the ongoing tournament so far. Against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on March 23, he scored 9 off 11 balls as KKR made 208/7 in 20 overs.

During the SRH innings, he got injured while taking a catch. Since then, he has been recovering from an injury. On April 12, he was seen at KKR’s training session at the Eden Gardens ahead of the IPL match, raising hopes for Kolkata fans.

However, as per Bengali news publication Anandabazar Patrika, it does not look good yet for the KKR southpaw. Even though he was present at the training session, he did not bat much. In fact, according to the publication, Nitish is unable to hold the bat properly due to his injury.

He trained a bit with a small bat and left the ground. On April 13, he was seen at the training session again at the Eden Gardens. This time, he did some catching practice under the supervision of KKR’s fielding coach Ryan ten Doeschate.

However, Anandabazar reported that he was seen catching with one hand only. It is assumed that he is not taking the risk of involving the injured hand. The team management probably doesn’t want to take a chance either.

Meanwhile, ESPNcricinfo reported that Nitish Rana could return in the match against LSG. In case he does, he is likely to replace Ramandeep Singh. In IPL 2023, when captain Shreyas Iyer was ruled out due to injury, it was Rana who captained the