Rajasthan Royals batter Nitish Rana might be considering moving to his former franchise Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of IPL 2026. The batter, who was KKR’s captain in 2023, was released by the franchise ahead of the 2025 season. He found a new home in RR but hardly managed to taste success there.
Rana wants to move back to KKR?
Rana was spotted wearing a KKR cap during training for West Delhi Lions ahead of the Delhi Premier League 2025 on Saturday. His move sparked speculations of if he was still interested to move on from RR to KKR in IPL 2026. Rana was bought for Rs 4.25 crore by RR after he was released by the 3-time champions following the 2024 season.
Rana was signed by the West Delhi Lions in the DPL 2025 auction, days after reports claimed that he couldn’t return to his former team to BCCI’s regulation. Earlier, the batter had made a switch from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh following which he decided to return to his former team ahead of the next domestic season. Rana even got a NOC from UP.
| Tournament | Teams | Mat | Runs | Ave | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPL 2025 | RR | 11 | 217 | 21.70 | 161.94 |
| IPL 2024 | KKR | 2 | 42 | 21.00 | 123.52 |
| IPL 2023 | KKR | 14 | 413 | 31.76 | 140.95 |
| IPL 2022 | KKR | 14 | 361 | 27.76 | 143.82 |
| IPL 2021 | KKR | 17 | 383 | 29.46 | 121.97 |
| IPL 2020/21 | KKR | 14 | 352 | 25.14 | 138.58 |
| IPL 2019 | KKR | 14 | 344 | 34.40 | 146.38 |
| IPL 2018 | KKR | 15 | 304 | 23.38 | 131.03 |
| IPL 2017 | MI | 13 | 333 | 30.27 | 126.13 |
| IPL 2016 | MI | 4 | 104 | 34.66 | 138.66 |
Nitish has 2853 runs from 118 matches in the IPL, including 20 50s and a highest score of 67 runs. In IPL 2025, the RR batter managed to amass 217 runs from 11 innings, including just two fifties.
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