IPL 2024: Uncapped Harshit Rana Hopes To Pick Mitchell Starc’s Brains At Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Harshit Rana is looking to forward to take brains from Australian Mitchell Starc in the upcoming season of Indian Premier League (IPL), which starts on March 22. For the unknown, Starc is the most expensive player in the history of IPL, with KKR spending a whopping Rs 24.75 crores on the Australian left-arm pacer. Two-time champions KKR will open their campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 23.
Although Rana wasn’t economical last year, his skill set impressed many, especially his ability to bowl consistently in excess of 140 kmph. However, he could get only six games for the Purple and Gold, taking five wickets. “There’s a lot of excitement around him joining the squad and I’ll get to learn a lot of things from a big player like him. Be it while playing the matches with him or training, I’ll look to pick up the learnings which will benefit my game,” Rana told KKR website.
Coming from an injury is always tough for any cricketer. It had a mental toll on the 22-year-old as he stayed away from the game for two and half years. “Despite that, I kept thinking positively and kept telling myself that the more I work on myself, the more I’ll benefit once I make my return at the IPL,” added Rana, who spent time with the Indian team in a couple of tours.
The tours had a positive impact on Rana and also learnt a lot about his training, diet and many more. “After spending time in the Indian camp, I see a lot of positive changes within myself. You start to understand how one should work upon himself as a cricketer so that you make progress.
“In fact when I got injured in South Africa, Rahul Dravid sir came and spoke to me and asked me to work on some specific things and in the past two and half months, I’ve worked on those things. Most importantly, I’ve understood from the senior players the skill of continuously bettering yourself.”
The youngster, who scored his maiden first-class hundred for North Zone in the Duleep Trophy quarterfinal last year, also spoke about his improvement in batting. He scored an unbeaten 86-ball 122 against North East Zone. “I’ve been working hard on my batting.
“After the runs I was able to score in the last domestic season, I looked to keep improving my batting. It will help me going forward and also I’ll be able to contribute more for the team I represent. I hope I’m able to replicate the work I’ve put in my batting and hope for the best from the upcoming season,” he signed off.