Watch: Nitish Rana brutally mocks Yash Dhull with unique century celebration in Ranji Trophy

Uttar Pradesh captain Nitish Rana brought up a brilliant century during the Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai being played at the Wankhede Stadium. Rana played an innings of 106 runs from 120 balls and hit a total of 12 fours and 5 sixes during his stay at the crease. UP posted a total of 324 runs in their first innings in reply to Mumbai’s 198 runs.

Nitish Rana completed his century in 105 balls and displayed a brilliant attacking display of cricket in the Ranji Trophy. Rana achieved his century on the second ball of the 69th over and displayed a brilliant celebration. Rana put off his helmet and raised his bat towards the dressing room where his teammates applauded him.

This century celebration might be an indirect jibe at Delhi batsman Yash Dhull, who was named as the captain of Delhi. Soon after Dhull was named as the skipper of Delhi by replacing Nitish Rana, the left-handed batsman left the team and joined Uttar Pradesh.

Nitish Rana also put off his inner gloves and was seen dusting off his bat with them. Apart from Rana, opener Samarth Singh played an innings of 63 runs from 107 balls and hit a total of 8 fours during his stay at the crease.

Watch: Nitish Rana dusts off his bat after a century

Century for @NitishRana_27 👏💯

He brings it up off just 105 balls 🔥

What a brilliant counter-attacking knock so far!@IDFCFIRSTBank | #RanjiTrophy

Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/Xa0g0GLMhj pic.twitter.com/LJyML5ohkE

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 27, 2024

Nitish Rana moved from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24. Rana has played a total of 46 matches in his first-class career and has scored 2587 runs at an average of  39.80. He has slammed a total of 6 centuries and 11 half-centuries. Rana’s highest score has been 174 runs.

After choosing to field first in Mumbai, the hosts were wrapped up for 198 runs wherein Shams Mulani top scored with 57 runs whereas Prasad Pawar was the second-highest run scorer of the innings. Captain Ajinkya Rahane and many other big names failed to showcase any impact and were dismissed cheaply by the Uttar Pradesh bowlers.

Ankit Rajpoot and Aqib Khan picked up 3 wickets each whereas Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shivam Sharma also grabbed 2 wickets apiece.

Aryan Juyal and Samarth Singh gave Uttar Pradesh a decent opening start as the duo added 45 runs for the first wicket. Juyal was dismissed for 27 runs from 42 balls. After Nitish Rana’s century and Juyal’s half-century, Akshdeep Nath played an innings of 41 runs from 85 balls, which helped Uttar Pradesh put up a decent score of 324 runs in their first innings.

Royston Das and Shivam Dube picked up 3 wickets each for Mumbai whereas Mohit Avasthi, Sylvester D Souza, and Tanush Kotian grabbed 1 wicket apiece. Mumbai ended Day 2 at 24 /0, with Jay Bista and Bhupen Lalwani at the crease.

Mumbai are currently undefeated in Elite Group B and are placed on the top spot with 3 wins from 3 games. On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh are in the 4th place with three draws from 3 games. UP will want to win their first match of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 and also move upwards in the points.

Uttar Pradesh are in a strong position to win the match against Mumbai, as they currently trail by 102 runs. With three days left in the match, anything can happen, however, UP are more likely to win the game.