The Kolkata franchise will look to do well in the upcoming edition of the Indian T20 League, starting on 31 March 2023. They will kick off their season against the Punjab franchise on 1 April. However, ahead of the season, they dealt a major blow when Shreyas Iyer sustained an injury.
Due to his back injury, their skipper is going to miss the whole tournament, as per reports. So, all eyes were on them as fans were eagerly waiting to see the replacement of the skipper for the new season. However, they showed faith in Nitish Rana and the southpaw batter became the interim or stand-by skipper.
Here is the shared image:
Nitish Rana and Chandrakant Pandit visited the Kalighat Kali temple in Kolkata ahead of IPL 2023. pic.twitter.com/XyBjxO1sCU
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 28, 2023
“I have been playing a leadership role in this franchise for a few years.” - Nitish Rana
Now, ahead of their season opener, both Nitish Rana and coach Chandrakanth Pandit were seen visiting the famous Kalighat temple in Kolkata. They went for darshan and took the blessing of Maa Kali ahead of the tournament. The franchise also shared some images from that visit on their official social media platform. Speaking of Nitish Rana, he has played 74 matches scoring 1744 runs since 2018. Rana led his state, Delhi in an edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and he won eight out of 12 matches.
Across formats at the senior level, he has captained 223 times so far. While speaking to the media persons in his first press conference as the Kolkata skipper, Nitish Rana said: “For me, this is not new. I have been playing a leadership role in this franchise for a few years. It's just that the tag is of a captain this time. And if I take extra pressure over a tag, then my game can potentially get ruined. There is no real fear. Yes, when you do something new for the first time, there is some added pressure. But I have played almost 100 games, and one thing I know is that I thrive under pressure and I am embracing this new role."
Here is how fans have reacted to the viral image of Rana and Pandit visiting the temple ahead of the tournament:
Sab cricketers ko suddenly kyu mandir Jana hai? 🤔
— 🔪 (@Shini_gami09) March 28, 2023
Captain Bane h Puja to hoga hi
— Bablu yadav (@BabluKu25323948) March 28, 2023
Bass bhai, mera paisa ab iss saal Nitish Rana pe 😂😂
— Rohit Patel (@thecommonman4u) March 28, 2023
Kya Matlb Team Play - offs me isbar 🗿
— cric Analysis 🚨 (@_sumitJaiswar_) March 28, 2023
Jai mahakal ki🙏🙏
— T.Deepak (@Deepak_118) March 28, 2023
Mai kal gaya tha tab nahi aaye 😬
— Vedaant Mehta (@VedaantMehta) March 28, 2023
Ye sala hr mandir me kaun baitha rhta h 😭
— Bhairu sharma (@BhairuratanSha3) March 28, 2023
Jai Maa Kali 🙏🏻
— ANEEK DEY #AmiKKR #Shreyasian (@AneekDey108) March 28, 2023
Ye kya chal raha hai bhai
— s_k_f_e_r_o_z (@s_k_f_e_r_o_z) March 28, 2023
RCB doing a separate inaugural event like IPL inaugural ceremony, lsg doing road shows...