 "Nitish Rana hit a fiery 51 in the match but Rajasthan Royals still did not pick him for the Super Over. Images: Reuters")
Nitish Rana has broken his silence on his omission from the Super Over as the Rajasthan Royals lost a thriller to the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League 2025 on Wednesday. The decision not to pick in-form Rana for the Super Over has led to massive criticism of the RR team management on social media platforms.
Rana scored a blistering 51 off just 28 balls, helping the Royals level DC’s total of 188 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Rajasthan Royals batted first in the Super Over as well, but the surprise picks from the management were Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was the third and final batter, who came during the Super Over after Parag’s dismissal, but was run out immediately as RR scored 11 in the Super Over. DC completed the chase in four balls. KL Rahul and Tristan Stubbs batted for them.
Nitish Rana backs RR management after Super Over snub
After the match, Rana backed the management to pick Hetmyer ahead of him as he is the “finisher” of the team. During the 189-run chase, Hetmyer had made 15 not out off 9 balls, while Parag scored 8 from 11. Jaiswal had hit 51 from 37 balls.
“The management takes the call, not one person. The captain is there along with two other senior players and coaches. If Shimron Hetmyer had hit two sixes, then you wouldn’t be asking this question,” Rana said in the press conference. “I will give the same answer. I don’t have any other answer. Whatever decisions we took was absolutely right. Hetmyer is our finisher, that everyone knows. He has delivered in the past.”
While Rana threw his weight behind the management, the experts and fans did not agree. Former Aussie all-rounder Shane Watson criticised the Rajasthan Royals team management for not sending Nitish Rana in the Super Over.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsWatson, fans slam RR management for Nitish Rana snub
“There were some brainfade moments as there were couple of run-outs. We kept on saying what wrong has Nitish Rana done that he was not sent in the Super Over. You have a batter who is set and has scored runs. In that case, not sending him made no sense,” Watson said.
Fans accused RR of “nepotism” by preferring Riyan Parag over Rana for the Super Over.
“Abey bevkoofon nitish rana ko bhejo kya nepotism chal raha hai (Foolish people, please send Nitish Rana. What is this nepotism?),” wrote a user on X.
Here are some other reactions:
Rajasthan Royals have now lost five matches in IPL 2025 and are currently in the eighth spot in the table with just two wins. Their next match is against Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday.