Rana down with back spasm, skips training

Kolkata Knight Riders middle-order batsman Nitish Rana was down with a lower back spasm as the team think tank today refused to give a clear picture on his availability for their match against Chennai Super Kings here tomorrow.

One of their most consistent middle-order batsmen, Rana walked off the field while on 17 during their six-wicket win at Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 29.

"He's lower back spasms. The medical team will take a call tomorrow morning," a team official said today as Rana did not attend their full-fledged training session ahead of their match against CSK.

Rana, who has 188 runs from eight matches at 31.33, has two man-of-the-match awards to his name and his part-time off-spin has also come in handy for the team to give crucial breakthroughs.

Talented batsman Shubman Gill, who batted at No 7, may get a promotion if Rana fails to make cut, while the team think tank may also consider Ishank Jaggi as his replacement.

Meanwhile, an MS Dhoni-less team CSK had an optional training session at the Eden under the watchful eyes of coach Stephen Fleming.

Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh skipped the optional traning, while Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Lungi Ngidi and Faf du Plessis joined the team midway into the practice session.

CSK lead the table with 12 points from eight matches, while KKR lie on fourth with eight points from eight points.