Nitish Rana announces return to Delhi in style, leads West Delhi to DPL title

It may sound as a cliché but there is nothing better to describe Nitish Rana’s re-emergence in Delhi cricket. He came, he saw and he conquered.

Rana’s exploits in the Delhi Premier League (DPL) playoffs not only brought the title for a team that was on the verge of ouster at one point but also announced his grand entry to the Delhi cricket circuit, something that he left two seasons ago following poor performances. Two years in Uttar Pradesh didn’t yield much and he decided to return to Delhi, play local cricket before leading West Delhi Lions to the DPL 2025 following a convincing six-wicket win over the fancied Central Delhi Kings at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Rana hit 79 not out off 49 balls, with four fours and seven sixes, as he marshalled the chase to overhaul 173/7 scored by Central Delhi Kings. The Lions ended at 175/4 with two overs to spare. He was well-supported by Hrithik Shokeen, who hit 42 not out off 27 balls with five fours and two sixes. The two shared an unbeaten 85-run partnership in 8.5 overs after Yugal Saini’s 64 off 48 (4x4s, 3x6s) and Pranshu Vijayran’s 50 off 24 balls (3x4s, 4x6s) had helped the Kings recover from a precarious 78/6 to end at 173/7 in 20 overs.

Nitish Rana remained unbeaten in the playoffs and the final 

“I have a lot of self-belief. That is how I have played cricket… I knew that if I could control myself, I can help the team chase. But if the target would have been 200-220 then it would have been difficult for us to chase because their bowling attack is very good. We all know that. I just waited for a couple of good overs and where I felt I could score, I did and the chase became very easy,” said Nitish Rana in the post-match presser.

Rana remained unbeaten in the playoffs, scoring 134 not out vs South Delhi Superstarz in the Eliminator, 45 not out against East Delhi Riders in the Qualifier 1 and 79 not out on Sunday night in the final against Central Delhi Kings.

He had said earlier, when the team was down that he, being the senior-most and experienced, needs to step up. That is what he did.

Rana ended with 393 runs in 11 games, in fourth spot among run-getters, with 248 of these coming in the final three matches.

“It was important for me to score runs. When I had left Delhi, that season was not good for me. I felt like I could perform better in a different state. But I couldn’t fare that well outside. I couldn’t do well there. But this kind of innings was very good for me personally,” said Rana.  

Head Coach Sanjeev Sharma, a former India Test cricketer, said that he had belief in his team right from the beginning.

“Even when we had camps, we knew that our team was very strong. Our batting and bowling were both strong. Luckily, we also got to play matches which were very tough early on. That prepared us. We also had a good support staff,” said Sharma after the DPL 2025 Final.

Brief scores

Central Delhi Kings 173/7 in 20 overs (Yugal Saini 65 off 48 balls, Pranshu Vijayran 50 off 24 balls, Manan Bhardwaj 2/11, Shivank Vashisth 2/12) lost to West Delhi Lions 175/4 in 18 overs (Nitish Rana 79 not out, Hrithik Shokeen 42 not out, Simarjeet Singh 2/35)

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FINAL

Central Delhi Kings innings

50/2 after 7.1 overs

100/6 after 15.1 overs

50 partnership between Yugal Saini and Pranshu Vijayran comes in 32 balls.

Yugal Saini's fifty off 43 balls, 92 minutes with 4x4s, 1x6

Pranshu Vijayran's  50 off 24 balls, 3x4s, 4x6s. Gets to fifty off the last ball of the innings. 

West Delhi Lions innings 

West Delhi Lions' 50 comes after 5.1 overs with Nitish Rana's six for the loss of three wickets 

Powerplay score, that is after six overs, was 66/3.

Fourth wicket falls at 90, when Mayank Gusain plays on

Team 100 comes in 10.4 overs, 63 mins

Nitish Rana's 50 comes off 32 balls with 3x4s, 4x6s

50 (55) partnership between Nitish Rana and Hrithik Shokeen in 39 balls with both contributing 27 each

Both Rana and Shokeen added 85 off 8.5 overs for the undefeated fifth wicket partnership

Tags : Nitish Rana, Cricket, Delhi Premier League, West Delhi Lions, Central Delhi Kings