The last six months have been incredibly memorable for the Delhi pacer, Harshit Rana, who grabbed the attention of the current Indian head coach, Gautam Gambhir, while he was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the last season of the IPL in 2024. The pacer finished as the joint-fourth leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 19 scalps in 11 innings.
Harshit Rana hardly imagined making his debut for India in the red-ball format four months later and would help the Blue Brigade to get the better of the Australian side in the series opener at the Optus Stadium in Perth during the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. The youngster picked up four wickets in 29 overs across two innings.
There is a lot of scope for improvement even now, but very few Indian players have achieved what Rana has in the last 12 months. His rise, however, is not a surprise to his coach in the formative years, NS Negi, who has seen the young pacer mature to become a multi-national bowler for India, potentially, in the future.
Harshit Rana to learn from Jasprit Bumrah? NS Negi recommends
The coach of the bowler from the U-19 days, Negi, couldn’t hide his joy at seeing the excellent performance on a bouncy and seaming Perth pitch. The coach felt that Rana carried the potential to play at least 70-80 red-ball fixtures for the national side.
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“Harshit Rana is a very talented bowler. He had been bowling extremely well in the last two seasons of the Ranji Trophy. Last year, when I was the fielding coach of the Delhi Ranji team, he made his debut and bowled extremely well.” Negi expressed this during a recent interview on PTI.
“It is just the beginning; he is one such player who should go on and play at least 70-80 Test matches for India… he should go on and play all three formats for India.” The veteran shed light.
The inclusion of the pacer introduced some controversy as he had played only around ten first-class matches. It was mainly due to the head coach, Gautam Gambhir, fast-tracking the pacer for the tour of Australia, as Negi believed that it was the perfect chance for the pacer to debut in the five-day format.
The paths of Harshit Rana and Negi crossed in 2018 when the pacer decided to play for the U-19 Delhi side. The latter worked as the fielding coach of the Gujarat Titans in the IPL and noted that Rana always had the ambition to improve in fitness which contributed to his fitness.
“In 2018, when I was the head coach of the Delhi U19 team, I noted that he had a very smooth action and a good rhythm. He could bat well. He worked on his fitness and pace and gradually improved as a bowler.” NS Negi addressed.
“The most important thing is that he is a fighter. When I first picked Mayank (Yadav) and Harshit in the team, they were both very raw but promising. I just hope that he continues to work on his fitness and gradually keeps increasing his pace.” The coach of Harshit Rana in the permeative years shed light.
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The coach believes that the bowler has the ability to come good with the bat in the lower down the order. He also advised that the youngster will need to learn from the premier pacer of the side, Jasprit Bumrah.
“He is a good batter as well and, in the coming years, may perform well with the bat as well. He is someone who can easily score 30-40 odd runs batting lower down the order for India.” Negi concluded.