Star player from Sanju Samson's Rajathan Royals returns to Delhi due to…
RR batter Nitish Rana is set to return to Delhi cricket from UP. (Photo: ANI)
The IPL 2025 season has just got over a few weeks back and since then India's domestic cricket has seen plenty of movement. Mumbai opener Prithvi Shaw announced his decision to leave his home state while Karun Nair and Jitesh Sharma are set to leave Vidarbha as well.
In another big move, former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain and current teammate of Sanju Samson at Rajasthan Royals, Nitish Rana, is set to return to Delhi after his move to Uttar Pradesh a couple of years back. According to TOI website, Rana is set to come back to Delhi ahead of the domestic season.
'Apna ghar toh apna hi hota hai (Nothing comes close to your home),' Rana's childhood coach Sanjay Bharadwaj was quoted as saying by TOI website. 'Yes, he will be playing for Delhi this season. I had asked him not to move out then also. He didn't have a great season with Uttar Pradesh. As a professional cricketer, you have too much pressure.
'It is a wise decision from him that he is returning to Delhi. This is where he has played all his cricket, right from the age-group level. He even got his first India call-up while playing for Delhi. It is a smart move,' said Bharadwaj, who has shaped the careers of cricketers like Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Left-handed batter Nitish Rana is likely to again represent Delhi in the upcoming domestic cricket season after applying for an NOC with the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA): Sources told IANS pic.twitter.com/uS1giGU6Kk
— IANS (@ians_india) June 25, 2025 Gautam Gambhir role in Nitish Rana return to Delhi?
According to Cricblogger website, Gambhir has played a major role in facilitating Rana's return to his home state. 'The UPCA sources also suggested that Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir may have played a role in facilitating Rana's move back to Delhi, reportedly advising him to pursue the transfer. The development has raised eyebrows, considering Gambhir's primary focus is expected to be on the national team — not on influencing domestic team compositions, particularly those involving his home state,' a report in Cricblogger website said.
Rana had a forgettable season for Uttar Pradesh in the 2024-25 domestic season. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025, he managed only 111 runs in nine games. He featured in only two List A matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, managing only 17 runs, before he was dropped. He was booted out of the Ranji Trophy team following a string of low scores. Rana scored 150 runs in four games.
'This is not a dump station. When he asked for the No Objection Certificate (NOC) in 2023, we had requested him to stay and play for Delhi,' TOI quoted a DDCA source as saying.
'He will have to earn his spot. There is no guarantee that he will get a chance right away,' the source added. Nitish Rana was bought for Rs 4.2 crore by Rajasthan Royals
Rana is a former captain of Delhi Ranji Trophy team and it will be interesting to see how he adjusts under the leadership of current skipper Ayush Badoni. The Delhi southpaw was bought for Rs 4.2 crore by Sanju Samson's RR at the IPL 2025 mega auction last year.
He only played in 11 matches in IPL 2025 season while scoring 217 runs with 2 fifties and a strike-rate of 161. The Royals finished in 9th position on the Points Table.
Rana has scored 2954 runs in 54 matches in first-class cricket at an average of 38.36 with 7 hundreds and 13 fifties. He has also scored 2281 runs in List A matches and 4848 runs in T20s.
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