Nitish Rana is in his 12th IPL season in 2026, but doesn't feel like a veteran yet. In a freewheeling chat with Cricbuzz, he opens up about how his trade to Delhi Capitals came about, his favourable match-up against R Ashwin, how captaincy has always elevated his game and an early IPL memory involving Sachin Tendulkar.

Excerpts:

What was your first-ever IPL memory?

In my second season with Mumbai Indians (in 2016), I was playing a practice game. I had scored around 40-45 runs. A childhood friend of mine had come to watch the match. He used to live in Mumbai.

To watch that match, Sachin [Tendulkar] sir had come. My friend was sitting very close to Sachin sir. So Sachin sir was talking to someone there, asking about me and praising me a little. When we got back to the hotel room, my friend told me about this. That's one memory that has stayed with me. If such a great player has good things to say about you and your talent, that gives a different level of confidence.

Can you break down the whole trade process that brought you from Rajasthan Royals to Delhi Capitals. How did you decide this would be a good move for you?

When this trade proposal came to me, it was already quite late. Late as in, on the last day [for an IPL trade]. I got a call around 7.30 PM. I had only spoken to two-three people about this. One, I called Rishabh [Pant] because I don't think anyone knows this franchise better than him. And he's also a close friend of mine so I felt he wouldn't give me any wrong advice. Then I had a call with Axar [Patel]. As a captain, he showed a lot of interest. He tried to explain the system at the team and what he was thinking for me and for the team. After everything was signed, I got one message from KL [Rahul] bhai. Obviously, messages came from the management, coaches, CEO and all the owners.

There was no better opportunity for me. I've been playing all my cricket from childhood at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium. I am a Delhi boy so I always felt that at some point this opportunity will come my way, that I would be able to play for Delhi some day.

But yes, if you had asked me this question 4-5 years ago, maybe my answers would have been different. Because at that time, I was playing for another franchise [KKR] and I was very happy there. But whatever the scenario was, whatever was written on it, it happened with me. So I am very glad that I am getting to represent Delhi Capitals at this stage of my career.

In 2023, you captained KKR. It also happened to be your best season with the bat - 413 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of 140.96. Did captaincy elevate your batting?

I feel that when I am given a responsibility, my performance is better. I have played cricket like that since childhood. I was 15-16 years old, when I was captaining in club cricket. I learnt to take responsibility from there - a thinking that I am the only player who can win my team the match. I am the captain so I would think how I can become the best player among the 22 on the field on a given day. And how I can win the Man of the Match award in any game.

That mentality was instilled in me by Sanjay Bhardwaj sir [childhood coach]. He gave me that responsibility at an early stage so I liked that from early on.

When I got that responsibility in the IPL, I won't say I was under some pressure. I knew that this would take my game to the next level. Initially in a couple of games, there was some pressure for sure because it was a very big stage. To captain there, manage everything, to focus on your batting even when results aren't going your way, or when batting goes bad, to then manage the team. There were a lot of things. But as we won one or two games, I got a lot of confidence. That season taught me a lot.

What difference do you see in Nitish Rana the batter of 2016 and Nitish Rana the batter of 2026?

I think in 2016, as a batter, unless you do something worthy at any level, you always have a little doubt. I had that doubt in 2016 - Was I made for this big stage? Have I prepared in such a way that I can prove myself? Can I play IPL for 10-12 or 15 years?

I had these questions in 2016. And maybe it was God's grace that I overcame that. Even in my first year (in 2016), I scored 70-72 runs [70 off 36] in the last game of the season.

So once you do something at that level, and when you start to believe in your system and processes, and start to think that yes my preparation was good. Or, you learn from any season that you have to improve something in your batting, or even off the field so that I can become a better player. So I guess that was my process from 2017-2018 and now till 2026. I think that journey has taught a lot. I probably can't tell the difference as such, but yes I am more sorted now. I have learned to avoid a lot of things. I've got a lot of belief in my game now.

I know that the [T20] game is such where there's a lot of failure because there are a lot of risks to take. Before, when I used to get out early, I'd punish myself. As a kid I had a habit that if in a 40-over game I got out inside 10 overs, I would sit out in the sun for the remaining 30 overs so that I could punish myself.

So the next time I play a 40-over match, I know the importance of being out in the sun for 40 overs. I used to do that in my early years but now I've changed a lot and I am more sorted. Over the years I've understood that the more you complicate cricket, the tougher it gets. You have to keep it simple. A ball will come at you and you have to react to it. You have to control yourself. Don't try to control external things. So I guess, I've learnt all that over the years and I am enjoying myself now.

Talking about specifics in your game. You have a great record against R Ashwin in the IPL - 71 balls | 141 runs | 10 fours, 10 sixes. What is it about this match-up that you do well always?

I have never thought about this. I've learnt this stat for the first time but I've been playing spin from my childhood. Because where I used to practice in Delhi, there were slow wickets. So as such I don't have a problem facing spin. But I haven't thought about it that I have gotten the better of any off-spinner or Ashwin bhaiya.

But yes, there are match scenarios and situations, and I try to bat accordingly. If I feel in a game that I could hit a particular bowler for 20 runs in an over, why shouldn't I? It's not about match-ups for me.

Because in a T20 game, if you're batting in the middle-order, it is very important to have two big [high-scoring] overs. If you don't get those big overs, you'll end up with a total under 180. So that's the mindset. The risk-reward mindset is very important in a T20 game. So I never thought about it [particular match-up].

But yes, before a game, I do think about which bowlers to target, from which end to target, in which situation I can target. It's not that I can go out and start hitting from the first ball. Sometimes I need to do that as well, and I've done that too. But I try to play for the situation and the demands of the game, and try to take 1-2 big overs. So maybe because of that, this stat sounds so good to hear.

In this impact player era, where there's so much focus on six-hitting, has there been any noticeable changes to your training methods?

No, for me there's not been any change as such because I've been playing my cricket the same way like I am playing now. That doesn't mean I don't want to learn anything new, or add something new to my batting. But as such I haven't changed anything because I am a top-order batter. I like to run the game a lot, and take it deep and bat according to the situation. I like to bat in both gears.

If the demands of the team are that I build a partnership over four overs without any risks, I enjoy doing that too. If the team demands that I attack from the first ball, I like that too. Overall I feel I am a smart batter rather than a free-flowing batter who will bat only in one gear. That was never my type and I never wanted to become like that either.

So I bat in the nets and prepare with this mindset. Sometimes in Kotla, you get a tough practice wicket - as in a wicket on the slower side with low bounce. So I try to gauge the wicket in the first 3-4 balls and adjust my practice according to that. If I feel that playing shots on a wicket is tough, then I try as much as I can to rotate strike or try to hit fours instead of sixes.

If sometimes I come up on a very flat wicket, like in Eden Gardens or Wankhede, and I know that in two days I have to play a match on such a surface, then I practice according to that, and get a little attacking because the ball will come to me with good bounce. So my practice is tailored like this and it has always worked for me.

What's been your most memorable knock in the IPL?

When my father-in-law expired in 2020. It was a game against DC in Abu Dhabi when I was playing for KKR. Just the night before the game I got the news of his death and just a few hours before the match I had found that I had to open the innings. That was the first time in my life I was opening the batting in T20 cricket. So that was a very uncomfortable zone for me because I had lost someone, there were a lot of emotions and I was about to do something I hadn't done until then in the IPL.

So that innings is always in my mind because that zone was very different. I probably can't explain in words about it. But yeah I scored 80-85 [81 off 53] in that game and after that I felt I did really well with the kind of emotions I was going through. So that knock is very memorable for me.