Most of the Indian cricketers from the current generation grew up idolising the trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly. However, Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Nitish Rana has recalled that he would cry in his room if Tendulkar and Dravid played while Ganguly got out early. Speaking in a recent podcast, Nitish revealed he idolised fellow-southpaw Ganguly, while his father and brother liked Tendulkar and Dravid, recently, which, in turn, led to occasional fights due to the competition.
“Dad was a huge Sachin Tendulkar fan. I loved Sourav Ganguly and my brother liked Rahul Dravid sir. So, in our house, whenever India played, fights were inevitable. Someone or the other out of the three of us had to get upset or angry. Because it was very rare that all three of them scored together. What used to happen with me was because Rahul sir was going through a career peak, I and my brother had a lot of fights. We could obviously say nothing to our father,” Nitish told FanCode.
Rana also revealed he would often end up locking himself in the room crying when Dravid was having a purple patch.
“Things like ‘Your player did not score runs, mine did’. I would get very agitated and cry in my room thinking ‘How did Sourav Ganguly get. Not today, I needed to show my brother’. On the other hand, Rahul Dravid would score 100s after 100s. So my childhood memories are these,” he added
However, Rana made his India debut when Dravid was the head coach, and the former labelled it as a ‘full-circle’ moment.
“My first Indian tour was with Rahul sir. If I look at this connecting it to my childhood, it’s a great achievement. Where I would be fighting regarding him as a child to playing under him. These things are very close to my heart,” said Nitish, who now playing for RR under the mentorship of Dravid.
Meanwhile, Nitish starred with the bat for RR during their recent win over CSK, smashing 81 runs off just 36 balls. CSK restricted the Royals to 182/9.
In reply, CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad top-scored with 63 off 44 balls, while Ravindra Jadeja remained unbeaten on 32. MS Dhoni contributed 16 runs before falling in the final over, and the five-time champions managed to score 176/6 in 20 overs in the chase of 183.
(With IANS Inputs)
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