The pacer registered his best ODI figures.
After being entrusted with the new ball responsibilities for quite a while, Harshit Rana has struck back with a brilliant four-wicket haul in the third ODI against Australia. Harshit Rana wickets included that of Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen and Josh Hazlewood. He was constantly hitting the right lengths and troubled the batters to end up with his best ODI spell.
There were multiple meltdowns before the third ODI, with respect to Harshit Rana’s selection in the playing XI being biased. However, many experts also backed the selection of the bowler. Having said that, those discussions will be put to rest for quite a while now after the four-for in Sydney.
After Australia were bundled out for 236 in the first innings in Sydney, former India speedster Varun Aaron spoke about Harshit’s spell, and what he did in order to excel on the wicket that offered something for the bowlers. The 23-year-old bowler Harshit Rana opened the bowling alongside Mohammed Siraj and wreaked havoc, skittling the Australian lower middle-order.
Variations are a huge part of fast bowling. The Harshit Rana wickets today had a plethora of those variations on display. Speedster Varun Aaron went in depth about how the Indian speedster was wise with his speeds in the match, which helped him get crucial wickets. As per Varun, one of the biggest strengths of Harshit is his ability to bowl slower deliveries.
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer got the better of wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carry, as Shreyas Iyer took a fantastic catch running backwards from point. Moreover, his previous delivery to the same batter was a slower one, which played a part in the batter being dismissed.
Most often, the Harshit Rana wickets had a pattern in them. Batters were often out-thought on the delivery before the actual wicket. For example, Carey was quite surprised with the slower ball which was bowled before the stock delivery (which was a seam-up release). What happens is, it starts to play on the mind of the batter.
“One of his best weapons is the slower ball. When he bowls on wickets which are conducive to slower deliveries, he is a completely different bowler”, said Varun Aaron, talking of Harshit Rana wickets, in the mid-innings interview.
To add to that, Harshit Rana holds the record for the third joint-most wickets for India after playing eight ODI matches. He stands alongside Ravichandran Ashwin with 16 wickets.
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The preparations for the World Cup in 2027 have begun for most of the teams around the world. For the Men in Blue, the start has not been a very promising one though. The visitors lost the three-match series against Australia after a defeat in the second ODI in Adelaide. Though there were some positives to pick from the series, the selection woes will loom large in the foreseeable future.
One of the most important points beside the selection of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli would be the utilisation of KL Rahul in the batting order. In the two ODIs so far, the wicketkeeper-batter from Karnataka has been batting lower than he actually should be. Rahul has been instrumental at No.5 in the 50-over format recently. But the Indian management have been slotting him at No.6.
Moreover, Kuldeep Yadav has been getting the axe quite regularly, which would be questionable under conditions which suit spin-bowling. The chinaman is one of the best bowlers India have in the arsenal, and fans would want to see him more often. Kuldeep brings a lot of variety to the bowling line-up, and should be the first spinner on the list for the coveted tournament in 2027.
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