IPL 2017, Match 16, MI v GL: CT Player of the match – Nitish Rana

Mumbai Indians goes to the top of the table with their fourth victory of the campaign.

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Nitish Rana
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Nitish Rana. (Photo Source: BCCI)

The Mumbai Indians (MI) have had a wonderful start to the Indian Premier League as they have now has four victories in their first five matches. After ending up on the losing side in their first match against the Rising Pune Supergiant franchise the team bounced back in superb fashion with four back to back victories. The team now sits comfortably at the top of the table with 8 points in their bag.

The Mumbai bowlers did not bowl particularly well in the match as the Gujarat Lions were able to post a decent enough total of 176 runs on the board. Although Gujarat’s bowling has been their weakest point throughout the tournament so far, the match was expected to go down to the wire. Chasing a target of 177 the Mumbai lost opener Parthiv Patel in the second ball of the innings, which left them in a spot of bother.

But then came out to bat Nitish Rana, who has been in fine form in the tenth season of the Indian Premier League. He once again showed quality and class and built up a solid partnership with Joss Buttler to put the Mumbai Indians in a position of strength.

Having said that, Nitish Rana is Crictracker’s player of the match.

Put the team in a strong position

Nitish Rana came out to bat quite early in the innings when the team did not even open the scoring. There was a huge responsibility on his shoulder to see his team out of trouble. Rana did just that and showed what kind of a batsman he is. His knock of 53 runs from 36 balls in a tough situation proved that he can handle pressure quite well. The batsman waited for the right balls and hit them with immense confidence whenever he got the opportunity.

The 23-year-old player built a solid partnership with Jos Buttler and did not let the team lose any more wickets after the early dismissal of Parthiv Patel. He eventually fell to Andrew Tye but did a lot of good to his team before getting out.

Timed the ball beautifully throughout his innings

The left-handed batsman took his time to settle down as he came out in a tough situation and when his team needed him to perform.  The batsman did justice to the faith his franchise put in him and played a brilliant innings hitting the bowlers all round the park. Though he was calm and composed at the start of the innings there was a touch of perfection in his timing of the ball.

After a slow start to the innings, the player gradually started to play his shots which were a treat to the eyes. He hit four boundaries and two sixes en route to his 53 and played at an amazing strike rate of 147.22. With the Indian Premier League being a huge platform for young players to showcase their talents, if the player continues to play like this there would be no doubt that he would burst into the Indian team sooner rather than later.

Nitish Rana gets 4 stars out of the possible 5 due to his calm and composed innings which helped the Mumbai Indians chase down a tough target.

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