5 Reasons why Nitish Rana's appointment as captain is a masterstroke by Kolkata

Nitish Rana (Image credit: Twitter)

The Kolkata franchise on Monday appointed Nitish Rana as their interim captain for the 16th edition of the Indian T20 League starting on March 31. The left-handed batter will lead the side in the absence of Shreyas Iyer, who is currently sidelined with a back injury. Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur were other contenders for the captaincy but the management surprised everyone by giving Rana the leadership role.

Here are five reasons why Rana's appointment as the new captain was a good move by the Kolkata management.

1. Experience as captain in domestic circuit

Nitish Rana, who has been a part of the Indian T20 League since the 2016 edition, has never led a franchise before but has the experience of leading the Delhi team at the domestic level. He has captained his state team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 12 times and has won 8 of those matches. His experience of captaining and playing in India's men's T20 league all these years may prove the Kolkata management's decision right.

Moreover, the newly-appointed captain also expressed confidence saying that he is not daunted by the prospect of leading an ITL team for the first time and also is not going take extra pressure.

2. Foreign captain could impact team balance

Kolkata have overseas players like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan and Tim Southee in their squad who can be appointed as a captain. Some fans were hoping that one of these experienced players would take the leadership role. However, the franchise finally went with Rana and it would be a good decision from the management. If a foreign captain fails to perform well it will be a huge burden on the management and it will also affect the balance of the team.

3. Familiar face in the Kolkata camp

Another Indian contender to become the new captain was Shardul Thakur, who also has never been captain in ITL. While Thakur joined the Kolkata franchise this season, Rana has been with the team since 2018, making him more familiar in the Kolkata camp. With Thakur being a new face to the backroom staff and most of the Kolkata players, the all-rounder is likely to be under more pressure. Rana is also a popular face among the Kolkata fans, which once again shows that the management's decision is sound.

4. Consistency with the bat

Nitish Rana has played 91 games so far in the men’s T20 franchise cricket league and has scored 2181 runs at an average of 27.96. The 29-year-old also has 15 half-centuries with a high score of 87. Apart from Kolkata, he has also played for the Mumbai franchise in the ITL.

He joined Kolkata in 2018 and scored more than 300 runs in each of the next five seasons, representing the franchise in 74 matches. The left-hander, who has scored 11 half-centuries for the current team, can also contribute quite a bit with the ball.

5. Can emulate Hardik Pandya

While announcing their new captain, the Kolkata management might have recalled the last season where Hardik Pandya led his team to the Indian T20 League title. The Indian all-rounder had no previous experience of captaining an ITL team but crowned his side in their inaugural edition of the cash-rich league.

Many raised eyebrows when Gujarat appointed Hardik as their captain, but the former Mumbai star used all his experience as a player to lead to success, something that many other experienced captains are yet to achieve. The Kolkata management will be optimistic that Rana can also guide his side as such and hand the franchise their third ITL trophy.