Nitish Rana Likely to Move Base to Uttar Pradesh; Gets NOC From DDCA | Exclusive

India cricketer and former Delhi captain Nitish Rana is likely to move base to Uttar Pradesh from the upcoming domestic season as a professional. A senior Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) official said talks are underway and formalities are being worked out at the moment.

“Yes, Nitish Rana is likely to come to UP for the domestic season. Formalities are being worked out and official statement will be issued soon. That’s all I can say,” says the official.

CricketNext reached out to Rana for a comment and the story will be updated when the all-rounder responds.

Rana and Dhruv Shorey asked for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). DDCA joint secretary Rajan Manchanda confirmed that they have been given NOC and necessary clearances from the association.

“Yes, we have given the NOC and necessary clearance,” Manchanda tells CricketNext.

While Shorey’s move to Vidarbha was confirmed by Vidarbha Cricket Association president to CricketNext last week, suspense continued around Rana’s new base. The left-hander’s likely move will unite him with his Kolkata Knight Riders teammate Rinku Singh, who is a consistent performer for UP in the middle order across formats.

In the last few years, UP have had an inexperienced squad and batting, especially the middle-order, has been heavily dependent on Rinku. With Rana set to join the squad, he is a front-runner to be the captain of the side across formats.

The left-hander has been an asset for the Delhi team in white-ball circuit but returns had been underwhelming in the longer format. He was dropped midway through the Ranji Trophy last season and made a return for the fixture against Mumbai. Rana was not happy with the Ranji snub and made himself unavailable for Delhi’s last away fixture against Hyderabad.

The moment season ended, whispers of Rana leaving the state were getting louder and he finally took the step last week by applying for NOC. It is reliably learnt that DDCA didn’t want to hold back a player who had already made up his mind.

“There was no point forcing a player to stay back. Once a player has made up his mind, there is very little we can do. We can’t give assurances or other things or talk about selection matters. It affects the dressing room atmosphere too when we force a player to stay back. So it’s interest of everyone I would say,” says a DDCA official.

Nitish Rana eligible for UPT20?

It will be interesting to see now whether this move makes Rana eligible to participate in the inaugural UPT20 league, which is set to kick-off on August 30 and will have the player draft in Lucknow on August 20.

The league featuring six teams representing different cities – Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Meerut and Noida – will span 18 days and all matches are scheduled to be played at the iconic Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.

Viacom 18 bagged the media rights for the league and all matches will be live streamed on Jio Cinema app. UPCA pushed out the first promo of the league on Saturday.

The trophy, official anthem, jerseys and complete squads of the six teams will be unveiled at an event in Lucknow on Sunday. BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla will be in attendance as UP will become the tenth state to roll out its own T20 league.