Nitish Rana not eligible to play due to this BCCI rule

Just days before the Delhi Premier League (DPL) 2025 mega auction, a major development has emerged around former KKR captain Nitish Rana. Despite his return to the Delhi state setup after two underwhelming seasons with Uttar Pradesh (UP), the left-hander has been ruled ineligible to participate in DPL 2025 due to a BCCI regulation. The DPL auction is set to take place on July 6 at 10 AM, but Rana will not be among the names in the pool.

A forgettable stint at UP ends in homecoming

Rana’s decision to switch back to Delhi was confirmed recently after the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) granted him a No Objection Certificate (NOC). Having made his name playing for Delhi, Rana had moved to UP in 2023 in a bid to revive his red-ball career and also captained the side.

But things didn’t go as planned. Across 10 First-Class matches, Rana scored just 447 runs at 31.92, with only one century. His List A and T20 returns were even more modest — 72 runs in 7 List A games and 314 runs in 16 T20s. After being dropped from UP’s Ranji Trophy squad and even left out of the UP T20 League auction (this season), Rana made the call to return to Delhi — the state where he grew up playing.

Interestingly, reports suggested that India head coach Gautam Gambhir, a long-time mentor to Rana, played a role in facilitating the move.

Why can’t Nitish Rana play DPL 2025?

Given his switch back to Delhi, many fans anticipated Rana’s participation in DPL Season 2, especially with the tournament expanding to eight teams this year. However, Rana’s name will be missing from Sunday’s auction due to a clause in BCCI’s domestic player transfer policy.

As per BCCI rules, any player switching state associations must observe a 12-month cooling-off period before becoming eligible to play local T20 leagues for the new association. Rana, who captained a UP franchise in their domestic T20 league just months ago, has not completed this cooling-off requirement.

“Unfortunately, the 12-month cooling-off rule does not allow Rana to participate in the DPL this season. He has taken a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from UP and is eligible to represent Delhi officially, but he can only play the DPL next year,” a BCCI source told CricBlogger. For now, Rana will only be seen in national-level domestic tournaments, with his DPL debut likely postponed until 2026.