Nitish Rana started IPL 2025 by batting at No. 4 and scoring 11 and 8. Ahead of Rajasthan Royals' (RR) match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Guwahati, he was pushed to No. 3 and he scored a 36-ball 81. He batted at that spot just once in the next three games. For Rana, his batting position is all about what the situation demands and he's prepared to move up and down the order.
"Things are different and sometimes match situation demands right-left combination, which is important in a format like T20," Rana said ahead of RR's game against Delhi Capitals in Delhi. "In the first two games and I tried to fulfil the team's demands and batted lower down the order. In the third match I was asked if I would bat at No. 3, I said yes and scored 81. I am okay with it and will fulfil whatever the team demands."
RR got into a bidding war with CSK and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and eventually bagged Rana for INR 4.2 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction ahead of the season. For the last seven years, he played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), for whom he batted at all positions, from opening to No. 6. Even in RR's last match against RCB, he walked in on the final ball of the innings at No. 6 and hit a first-ball four.
"This probably what makes a professional cricketer [to play at any position]," he said. "In such a big league, you are playing for a good franchise, that is a big thing and I consider myself blessed. When a team buys you or shows faith in you, they talk to you about what your role is, where you will bat, in what situation you will bat. That is clear, and preparation is according that.
"You hear that camps start two months before the IPL or that there is a ten-day camp once the Ranji Trophy breaks. Those are for such preparation and how you should bat in which position. In a tournament at the end of the day, as a batter, you have to pay attention to the ball. If you open or bat down the order, it is about batting one bat at a time.
"The more you keep cricket simple, it is simple, the more we make it complicated, it becomes complicated. I don't think about what my role is and whether that is tough. It is the biggest league, everything is tough, and the challenge is to evolve and come through it as a player, and we are ready for that."
When KKR's then-captain Shreyas Iyer was injured before IPL 2023, Rana was handed over the reins. He led KKR to a seventh-position finish with six wins and eight losses. When RR's regular captain Sanju Samson played only as a batter for the first three matches of IPL 2025, Riyan Parag was chosen to lead the team, despite Rana's previous experience as captain.
While Rana "wouldn't have said no" if he was asked, he agreed with the call to go ahead with Parag.
"When I captained KKR, only one thing that was in my favour - that I was with KKR for six-seven years before that. That point was very important in my captaincy," Rana said. "When I came into RR, Riyan knew more about this team environment and culture than me. It was the right decision, that is not to say I would have said no if I was asked to captain. I would have taken captaincy with both hands. It was an important decision for the team and the RR management took the right decision."