Nitish Rana‘s seven-year tenure with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has come to an end. During the IPL 2025 auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, KKR did not bid for the 30-year-old, which raised many eyebrows. Rana’s wife, Saachi Marwah, appeared disappointed by KKR’s decision, sharing a cryptic tweet on X about the cost of loyalty.
The left-handed batter is now set to join Rajasthan Royals (RR) for ₹4.20 crore. Apart from Rajasthan, both Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) also showed interest in him. Saachi posted a quote that read:
“Loyalty is very expensive, not everyone can afford it.”
https://x.com/marwahsaachi/status/1861083489665274155?s=46
KKR retained six players, the maximum allowed by the rules, ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. As a result, they entered the event without any Right to Match (RTM) cards.
The defending champions spent ₹50.95 crore at the two-day auction to acquire 15 new players. While they did not bid for Nitish Rana, they made a major push to bring back India all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, paying a hefty ₹23.75 crore.
Nitish Rana is the fourth-highest run-scorer for KKR in IPL history
Rana enjoyed a fruitful period with the Kolkata-based franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL), initially joining in 2018 for a price of ₹3.40 crore. Subsequently, during the IPL 2022 mega auction, he was re-signed by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a significantly higher sum of ₹8 crore.
The left-handed batter was a key player in KKR’s batting order during his tenure with the three-time champions. He scored 2,199 runs in 86 innings at a strike rate of 136.32, making him the fourth-highest run-scorer in Kolkata’s IPL history.
Rana also stepped in as captain for KKR in IPL 2023 after Shreyas Iyer was sidelined due to injury. However, he had a limited role in the team’s IPL 2024 victory, playing only two matches due to a finger injury.
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