Sometimes one cursory glance at a scorecard can tell you the story of the match. In a 182-vs-176 match, eight batters batted more than 10 balls. Only one managed a strike rate of over 150. That of 225. Over 36 balls.
Mega auctions can be tough on the mid card. Nitish Rana was one such solid and bankable mid-card player with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). In the year immediately preceding the auction, Rana injured his middle finger and played only two games. A year before that, he was their captain as Shreyas Iyer was out with injury. It is difficult for teams to reward loyalty with only so many players they can retain. In Rana's case, the India cap he earned when two India teams played simultaneously in 2021 disqualified him from being retained in the uncapped quota.
It is not to say the hurt was not justified. When KKR didn't bid for him nor use the right-to-match card for him, Rana's wife posted on social media: "loyalty is expensive, not everyone can afford it." What a time then to produce his best IPL knock: only his fifth score in the 80s but his only half-century at more than two runs a ball.
That Riyan Parag would be pushed from mid card to main event was decided and conveyed to Rana even before the RR coach Rahul Dravid talked up Parag as the No. 3 in a press conference. There was a clear plan to what Dravid wanted, and he didn't want it telegraphed to the opposition, who had anyway taken a long flight from Chennai to Guwahati with one day's gap between their two defeats.
RR wanted to make the most of the powerplay, so it made sense to deploy a low-cost wicket, but they also wanted to deny Chennai Super Kings (CSK) the use of R Ashwin with the new ball. CSK have Khaleel Ahmed to exploit the early movement, but have struggled for a quick to share the new ball. Sam Curran's replacement, Jamie Overton is also more of an into-the-pitch user of the older ball.
Now, you might wonder, why a left-hand batter to deny an offspinner? For starters, by now you know Rana enjoys a sweet match-up against Ashwin, who finally managed to dismiss him for the first time today but not before the carnage. Ashwin, though, is not the only offspinner to suffer at the hands of Rana. Before this game, Rana averaged 33.9 and struck at 154.13 against all offspin in the IPL.
It's not that CSK were not aware of the match-up, but they didn't have too much choice but to go to Ashwin once Rana got off to a flier. Against left-arm orthodox, Rana enjoys an even better match-up. Off 21 balls from Kuldeep Yadav, the only left-arm wristspinner he has faced before this game, Rana had scored 36 runs without getting out. There could still be a case made for going to Noor Ahmad before feeding Rana the bowling of Ashwin, but CSK are a side that plays percentage cricket. Not for them such fancy moves of bowling Noor inside the powerplay only for the seventh time in an IPL career of 26 matches.
Rana didn't waste any time in showing why he dominates fingerspin so much. He swept Ashwin for successive sixes and a four immediately. Ashwin was aware of the spin threat, which explains the attempt at really full balls, but he ended up overcooking two of the first three. The full length nearly worked when he got an lbw call but the DRS review reinstated Rana. He went on to drive Ashwin over extra cover and also reverse-hit him for four. In between, he also played perhaps his best shot of the innings: an inside-out extra-cover drive off Noor.
While it was the perfect tactical ploy by Dravid and Parag to exploit CSK's lack of bowlers who can test Rana with high pace, Rana took care of the execution perfectly.
In an interview on Rana's comeback last year, Harsha Bhogle said he was trying to catch a glimpse of his injured finger, to which he had said: "Sir, that I can't show you because it is my middle finger."
Given his anger at not being valued enough by his previous franchise - Rana and his wife unfollowed KKR on socials - he showed his mature side in a "rocking-the-baby" celebration.