Nitish Rana


Nitish Rana is an Indian first-class cricketer who plays for Delhi in domestic cricket. He is an All-rounder, a left-handed batsman and right-arm off-break bowler who is also a member of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad in the Indian Premier League. In November 2018, he was named as the captain of Delhi, replacing Gautam Gambhir.

Career

Rana made his first-class debut in the 2015–16 Ranji Trophy and ended the tournament with 557 runs, averaging 50.63 and finishing as his team's leading run-getter. He was his team's second highest run-scorer in the 2015–16 Vijay Hazare Trophy with 218 runs.
In the 2015–16 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Rana struck 299 runs in 8 innings at a strike rate of 175.88 and an average of 42.71. In a match against Andhra in that tournament, Rana came in to bat with Delhi struggling at 40 for 4, and launched a counter attacking innings of 97 off 40 balls to take his team to 236 for 9 in 20 overs. After Delhi lost three of their top four batsmen for single digit scores against Baroda, Rana top-scored once again with 53 off just 29 balls and helped his team chase down Baroda's total of 153. Against Jharkhand, he hit an unbeaten 60 off 44 balls after Delhi were reduced to 14 for 3 in their chase of 135 and helped his team to a 5-wicket win. In January 2018, he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2018 IPL auction.
In October 2018, he was named in India A's squad for the 2018–19 Deodhar Trophy. In December 2018, he was named in India's team for the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup. In October 2019, he was named in India B's squad for the 2019–20 Deodhar Trophy.

Playing style

Rana is an aggressive left-handed batsman and off spin bowler. He was the leading six-hitter of the 2015–16 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 21 sixes and is said to have "big-hitting prowess". Rana has credited Ricky Ponting for helping him develop into a big-hitting batsman.

Controversies

For the upcoming IPL season in 2020, are being investigated for his involvement in age-fudging. If allegations are proven true, KKR might lose the services of Nitish Rana for IPL 2020.
Nitish Rana was one of the 22 players banned by BCCI for the same reason in 2015 and though he is ineligible for age group cricket being 26 years of age now, it is highly unlikely that he might be banned from senior cricket.