Nitish Rana credits Rishabh Pant for joining Delhi Capitals
What's the story
Delhi Capitals's new signing, Nitish Rana, has revealed that a brief chat with Rishabh Pant was instrumental in his decision to return to his home franchise ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. The left-handed batter was traded from Rajasthan Royals for ₹4.20 crore before the auction. This will be the first time Rana plays for Delhi Capitals in his IPL career.
Past performance
Rana had stellar run in DPL 2025
Rana had a stellar run in the Delhi Premier League last year, scoring heavily and becoming one of the top batters in the tournament. He will be looking to carry that form into IPL 2026. In a video shared by Delhi Capitals, Rana revealed Pant was his only point of contact before deciding to join the franchise. "There was only one person I asked whether I should join Delhi Capitals or not, and that was Rishabh," he said.
Decision influence
Rana felt Pant was the right person to ask
Rana said he felt Pant was the right person to ask about his decision as he knows him well. "He gave his answer in three seconds. He told me there could not be anything better than this for you. Just quietly say yes," Rana recalled, adding that after that conversation he never looked back on his decision to join Delhi Capitals.
Career highlights
A look at Rana's IPL journey
Rana has had a long IPL career, having played for Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Rajasthan Royals. His most memorable stint was with KKR from 2018 to 2024, where he became an integral part of the team. He even captained KKR in 2023 when Shreyas Iyer was unavailable and later contributed to their title-winning campaign in 2024. Rana owns 2,853 runs in the IPL from 118 matches (112 innings) at 27.97. He owns 20 fifties.
Information
His numbers for RR last season
Rana made 11 apperances for RR in IPL 2025. He went to manage 217 runs with his strike rate being 161.94. He hammered two half-centuries last season.
Twitter Post
Three secs!
Three seconds — that’s all Rishabh needed to convince Nitish to sign for Dilli 💙🥹 pic.twitter.com/PWGr39CHAF
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 12, 2026