Nitish Rana

Nitish Rana (born 27 December 1993) is an Indian cricketer who plays for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He is an attacking left-handed batsman, effective off spin bowler and current captain of the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Team He was a batsman and part-time bowler during his initial stage but now he has developed himself into an effective batting allrounder. In November 2018, he was named as the captain of Delhi, succeeding former captain Gautam Gambhir. Rana was also captain of Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2023 Season.

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, Rana 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.

Rana was one of 22 players banned by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the age-fudging in 2015. Ahead of the 2020 Indian Premier League, Rana was reportedly investigated again for his involvement in age-fudging but the allegations were proved wrong.

International career
In June 2021, Rana was named in India's One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) squads for their series against Sri Lanka. He made his ODI debut on 23 July 2021, for India against Sri Lanka. He scored 7 runs off 14 balls on his debut. He made his T20I debut on 28 July 2021, for India against Sri Lanka.

Personal life
On 18 February 2019, Rana married his long-term girlfriend Saachi Marwah, who is a cousin of Indian comedian Krushna Abhishek.