Nitish Rana produced a captain’s knock to lead his team, West Delhi, to a T20 league title after playing a starring role in a six-wicket win over Central Delhi in the final at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.
Nitish Rana, who represented Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2025, led from the front by scoring an unbeaten 79 off 49 balls, smashing four fours and seven sixes.
He also opened the bowling for West Delhi, finishing with figures of 1/16 and took the wicket of Aditya Bhandari.
Never miss an update on Rajasthan Royals—get the latest articles, news, and more by clicking here!
Chasing a target of 174 to win, Nitish Rana walked into the middle at the start of the third over with West Delhi reduced to 15/2.
Unfazed by the pressure of the chase, Nitish Rana proceeded to play his natural game and took the attack to the opposition.
After steadying West Delhi’s run chase with a 42-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Mayank Gusain, Rana brought up his fifty off 32 balls in the 13th over.
He also shared an unbeaten 85-run stand with Hrithik Shokeen, guiding West Delhi home with two overs to spare.
Rana’s match-winning knock in the final was his latest in a string of top performances by the left-hander in Delhi’s T20 league playoffs.
The 31-year-old produced a batting masterclass in the Eliminator to help West Delhi chase down a formidable 202-run target against South Delhi.
He smashed 134 off 55 balls, reaching his fifty in just 20 balls and completed his century in 42 deliveries.
Rana also produced an unbeaten 45 off 26 balls against East Delhi to help guide his team into the final.
He finished the season as the fourth-highest scorer in Delhi’s T20 league with 393 runs at an average of 65.50 and strike rate of 181.94.
Nitish Rana was one of the Royals’ standout batters in IPL 2025, having contributed with 217 runs in 11 matches.
The tally for the season included two half-centuries - a match-winning 81 off 36 balls against Chennai Super Kings in Guwahati and a 51 off 28 against Delhi Capitals in Delhi.
