The young sensation pacer Harshit Rana was picked up among the touring Indian squad for their upcoming five-match Test series in the Australian summer for the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 on the back of his special performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), where he was under mentor Gautam Gambhir.
The former Delhi opener has been promoted to be the new head coach of the Blue Brigade, and that allowed him to make higher strides towards the success of Harshit Rana in the longest format of the game. The hit-the-deck type of bowler can be successful on the quick and bouncy surfaces down under, while his batting quality in the lower order is a boon.
He grabbed the spotlight in the 2024 season of the tournament, where he picked up 19 wickets in 11 innings at an average of little over 20 and a strike rate of 13.31 with an economy of nine. The aggressive version of the pacer is also something that the management can look to use.
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Harshit Rana was part of the T20I series against Bangladesh, but he didn’t make his international debut in the three matches. Later, he was added to the squad as the traveling reserve for the first two Tests at home against New Zealand in Bengaluru and Pune.
Harshit Rana sweats in the Mumbai nets ahead of 3rd Test vs New Zealand
However, just two days after the beginning of the second Test, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released him from the national squad, and that allowed the pacer to be part of the Ranji Trophy 2024/25 fixture for Delhi at the Arun Jaitley Stadium against Assam.
In the first innings of the bowling period, Harshit Rana claimed a magical figure of 5/80 in 19.3 overs, including the three top-order batters of the opponents. When his side was under some pressure with the bat at 182/6 in the second innings of the clash, the 22-year-old turned out with the bat in hand and celebrated 59 runs, shouldering on four boundaries and three sixes at a strike rate of over 75.
In the third innings of the encounter, he picked up two more wickets. This has been delightful news for India, who may look to hand over the debut cap to the pacer, at some point in the Australia series. Thanks to the glorious performance, he was called into the nets of the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, where the Indian batters prepared themselves for the final of the three-match Test series.
A few reports claimed that Harshit Rana perhaps had been included in the squad for the upcoming game, but the batting coach of the Blue Brigade, Abhishek Nayar, ruled out that possibility during the pre-match press conference.
“Washington Sundar was added to the squad before the second Test after a meeting among selectors. No such meeting has happened regarding Harshit Rana. Realistically, one pacer out of Mohammad Siraj and Akash Deep will partner Jasprit Bumrah, along with three spinners in the eleven.” The source was revealed to the Times of India.
“Rana was picked as a reserve bowler for the New Zealand series. With the next Ranji match starting on November 6 (against Chandigarh), he can bowl in the India nets for a couple of days before joining the Delhi squad. As of now, he hasn’t been included in the squad.” The information addressed.
India will start their Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 campaign in November at the Optus Stadium in Perth.