Nitish Rana couldn’t have asked for a better homecoming. Returning to his home after 2 years, the former all-format Delhi captain has picked up where he left off.
Nitish had a modest Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season by his standards for his new team, the Rajasthan Royals. Before the 2025-25 domestic season starts, Nitish wanted to get back into the groove. And he’s done just that. Rajasthan didn’t feel the need to use his handy off-spin.
Nitish Rana’s off-spin magic
But leading the West Delhi Lions in the Delhi Premier League (DPL) 2025, Nitish felt that his slow and smart bowling would come in handy. And he was 100% correct. Nitish ended up as the best bowler for the Lions. He was the most economical, along with Hrithik Shokeen, giving away just 18 runs in 3 overs.
The 31-year-old also took a wicket, which was great as East Delhi Riders lost just 4 wickets in their 20 overs. Nitish mixed up his pace as the ball was stopping a bit and tried to bowl wide to ensure batters don’t eye him up. Arpit Rana was the Riders’ second-best batter after Anuj Rawat, and Nitish got his wicket just before the halfway mark to slow them down for a bit.
Self-doubt
Nitish didn’t want to take someone’s spot when he thought of returning to Delhi. His time with Uttar Pradesh wasn’t that great and perhaps he was doubting himself. But when it comes to talent, there’s not doubt Nitish has it.
“I didn’t think it would be easy for me to return to Delhi because there is no lack of talent. And I didn’t want to cause a problem, ruin a team, or take some other place’s spot,” Nitish had said in the pre-tournament press conference.
Nitish goes bang with the bat
After showing his worthiness with the ball, Nitish had fabulous returns with his main skill, batting. Krish Yadav and Ayush Doseja had already given Lions a perfect start. When Nitish came in, 81 runs were needed from 60 balls. Doseja was still batting. Nitish came and killed the game.
He struck 39 runs from just 15 balls, doing the majority of heavy lifting. He was caught behind, as he didn’t care to finish the match unbeaten and gave the Lions a massive boost when it comes to the net run rate, as they won by 7 wickets and with 15 balls to spare.
