India cricketer Nitish Rana has announced that he will be playing for Uttar Pradesh and leaving Delhi for the current 2023-24 domestic cricket season.

Rana, the left-handed batting all-rounder who captained Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023, will be reuniting with his franchise team-mate, left-handed middle-order batter Rinku Singh in the Uttar Pradesh side. He is now eligible to play in the inaugural edition of the UPT20 League, where he will be playing for Noida Super Kings.

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“I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the opportunities, guidance, and support which DDCA has provided me over the years. As I move on to new horizons, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the incredible journey I had while captaining Delhi Cricket and express my sincere appreciation.”

“I would also like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to Mr. Rohan Jaitley for his support and cooperation during my time with DDCA. However, I think it’s time to turn the page and embark on a new chapter in my career.”

‘I have come to this decision with a lot of thought and I’m happy to announce that I’ll be joining UPCA from the upcoming domestic season. I’m excited to play for UPCA, and I look forward to working with everyone to reach new heights,” said Rana in a statement posted on social networking website “X”.

IANS had reported on August 12 that Rana had applied for an NOC from the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) after his long-time Delhi team-mate, right-handed batter Dhruv Shorey, was confirmed to make a move to two-time Ranji Trophy winning team Vidarbha.

Rana, with one ODI and two T20I caps for India, was a regular fixture in Delhi’s white-ball side and even served as the captain. But he wasn’t a regular player in last season’s Ranji Trophy campaign for Delhi in the previous domestic season. He was left out of the Ranji Trophy team after recording scores of 14, 40, 0.

Though he played in Delhi’s win over Mumbai in January this year, Rana scored only 11 and six not out in the match before pulling out of his team’s last Ranji Trophy fixture against Hyderabad.