How often is it that a team plays three knockout games on three successive days? How often does that team go on to lift the championship? Also, how often is it that the team’s captain goes unbeaten in all three games and becomes the reason behind the silverware? Well, that is exactly what Nitish Rana has done for the West Delhi Lions, the Delhi Premier League (DPL) 2025 winners.
‘Nitish Rana show’ dazzles DPL 2025
After two turbulent years, Nitish Rana has come back home. He moved to UP, looking for greener pastures, but it didn’t happen. Now, with the help of DDCA and a change of heart, he returned to the Arun Jaitley Stadium. And what a comeback he has achieved!
He is the winning captain of the DPL 2025, a league that is perhaps one of the best state franchise-run tournaments. The West Delhi Lions, who finished third on the table, upstaged table-toppers Central Delhi Kings, and the major reason behind it was Nitish Rana, whose all-round show did the job in the final.
Rana had a poor start to the campaign, scoring just 135 runs in the entire league stage. But then came unearthly innings. In the Eliminator, where heated brawls took centre stage, Rana stood tall and hammered 134* in a 200+ run chase. The innings has been described as his career-best T20 knock by the man himself! It showed the quality of a player who has been part of 118 IPL games. A big match mentality. A Mamba Mentality.
In the three knockouts (Eliminator, Qualifier 2, and Final), Rana bludgeoned 134*, 45*, and 79*, remaining not out each time. That’s a total of 258 runs at a strike rate of 198.4. All three matches saw his team chase down tricky targets. Yes, Rana had his match-winners in different situations, but there’s no denying that it was he who inspired a team, who finished last on the table, to clinch the silverware.
Rana eyes Team India’s return
Now, after such a successful campaign, it is easy to get carried away. But as far as Rana is concerned, he still believes in ‘God’s plan’. For the entire tournament, he believed in the process, only caring about leading West Delhi towards the trophy. However, when quizzed about the outside noise that might have crept into his mind, Rana sneakily put forward his wish to don India colours.
“For the sake of it, there are a lot of things to think about (on an individual level). I want to make a comeback in the Indian team as well, if I think about it. But if I ponder only about these things, it’ll only put on more pressure. In the final, I only focused on the controllable – and that was only cricket. I could bat, bowl and field for my team, and that is what I did,” Rana told reporters after the DPL final on Sunday midnight.
Rana not only won the Player of the Tournament award but also was the Man of the Match in the summit clash against the Central Delhi Kings. In the first innings, his guile saw him return with the figures of 1/16 (after 4 overs). But it was again with the bat; the southpaw mastered the game.
Coming out to bat after Simarjeet Singh took two early blows, Rana instantly stamped his authority. He hit huge sixes, some that even hit the third tier, and clamoured his way against the best bowling attack of the tournament. Hrithik Shokeen did his bit with a blazing 42 (off 27 balls), and West Delhi clinched the DPL title with six wickets and 12 balls in hand.
Rana on Rajasthan Royals sagas
In the same vein, Rana remained candid about his IPL team as well. Currently, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) has been in the news regarding all kinds of reasons. Initially, there were reports of skipper Sanju Samson and head coach Rahul Dravid not being on the same page. Then, the two met, possibly discussing the IPL 2026 plans. However, recently, Dravid and Rajasthan Royals mutually parted ways. Asked about if he was thinking about all the stuff going around his IPL and how he needed to perform in DPL, Rana replied.
“Also, I didn’t think anything about what the buzz going around outside was. And I genuinely don’t have an idea about the rumours (regarding strategies of Rajasthan Royals ahead of IPL 2026) going on. Maybe you can enlighten me.”
Nitish Rana at DPL 2025
| Phase | Runs | Innings | Average | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League Stage | 135 | 8 | 19.2 | 156 |
| Knockouts | 258 | 3 | Unbeaten | 198.4 |
| Total | 393 | 11 | 65.50 | 181.94 |
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