RANA BLAMES IT ON POWER ISSUE

POORAN IS A BIG FAN OF DHONI

Kolkata Knight Riders’ opening IPL fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad was halted for 12 minutes after one of the floodlights tripped due to a short circuit and home side batsman Nitish Rana blamed his dismissal on the power outage.

The incident happened at 7.18 pm when Sunrisers’ Rashid Khan was about to bowl his third delivery of the 16th over to Nitish Rana who was batting on 68 then. “I didn’t know this could happen. My gameplan suddenly got interrupted. I lost my momentum when I came to the dressing room. The atmosphere also became a bit relaxed. I got into the shell because of the break. I could have finished the match if the break was not there,” Rana said. With Sunil Narine suffering a finger injury, Rana was promoted to open with Chris Lynn.

KXIP head coach Mike Hesson has compared Nicholas Pooran to his illustrious West Indian teammate Chris Gayle but the youngster only wants to be “the best he can be” and justify his `4.2 crore price tag in the IPL. The 23-year-old, who overcame a serious car accident in 2015, has become a sought after player in the shortest format with his exploits over the last 12 months.

“There is no pressure as yet. Any tournament is an opportunity. I am in a new team and just want to give my best. And to be honest, I am just trying to be the best I can be,” Pooran said when asked about the flattering comparison with Gayle.

He takes his wicket-keeping as seriously as his batting and is a self-confessed Mahendra Singh Dhoni fan.

“I am a big Dhoni fan as he is the best in the business. I feel I am getting better and better (work behind the stumps).”