Nitish Rana reveals how Sachin Tendulkar made his Mumbai Indians stint memorable

Delhi batsman Nitish Rana is one of the emerging Indian cricketers who has been quite impressive in the Indian Premier League (IPL), especially in the last two seasons for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Earlier, Nitish Rana played for Mumbai Indians but KKR acquired his services for a substantial sum of ₹3.40 crores ahead of the IPL 2018. Nitish Rana, who plays for Delhi in the domestic circuit, is yet to have a breakthrough season.

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Nitish Rana reveals the time when Sachin Tendulkar took notice of him

Recently, in an interview, Nitish Rana revealed about how the news of getting picked at the auction was conveyed to him. During the interaction, Nitish Rana said that the news was given to him by a friend during a Ranji Trophy game. Rana, who was batting, called someone from the dressing room for some drinks and that's when he got the news of getting picked by Mumbai Indians. He added that at first, he thought that his friend was joking but after his friend insisted that the news is true, he actually believed it.

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During a conversation with Cricbuzz, Nitish Rana also revealed how he got to know that the legendary Sachin Tendulkar had noticed him. Nitish Rana said that one of his friends overheard a conversation between Sachin Tendulkar and the Mumbai Indians manager Rahul Sanghvi and told him that he had caught Sachin Tendulkar's attention. Nitish Rana further said that Sachin Tendulkar asked the MI manager who the boy was and added that the 'Master Blaster' had clearly taken notice of him, which made him feel really good.

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Nitish Rana also shed some light on Ricky Ponting's advice to him. Nitish Rana said that Ricky Ponting asked him to not just defend as he had the ability to hit the ball. Rana also revealed that Ponting asked him to hit the ball hard. After the arrival at the Mumbai Indians camp, Rana didn’t get a lot of chances in the beginning. It was late in the 2016 season when he appeared in a match against the now-defunct Gujarat Lions and impressed everyone.

Rana had scored 70 runs from 36 balls and grabbed the attention of one and all. Nitish Rana then went on to become a key player for Mumbai Indians in the upcoming season and was a crucial member of the side when they won the IPL in 2017. After this, he moved to KKR in 2018.

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IMAGE COURTESY: NITISH RANA INSTAGRAM