Indian seamer Harshit Rana on Thursday picked up two wickets, conceding 59 runs against Australia in the 2nd ODI at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide. Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif reckoned that Rana does not have a strength delivery similar to Mohammad Siraj or Jasprit Bumrah, which could trouble the batters. Kaif also observed that Rana’s strength is pace variations.
“I’m following Harshit Rana a lot, but he does not have a strong delivery. It’s not like he has a solid outswinger or an inswinger. When we speak about Siraj or Bumrah, they have their strengths, such as their yorkers, pace, or slower deliveries. But I can’t figure out what Harshit Rana’s strength is. It’s not like he bowls over 140. Play either one of Rana or Reddy, because both of them can’t play together. Kuldeep Yadav sitting out for this is a clear injustice,” Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
“When the required rate is 9 or 10 runs per over, there Harshit Rana is effective because his strength is change of pace. But when batters are playing like Test cricket when the required rate is around 5 or 6 runs per over, the bowler has to bring more skills to outfox the batter when he is playing in 3rd gear,” Kaif added.
All-format bowler
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Aakash Chopra came to the rescue of Harshit Rana. The young fast bowler has come under criticism from a few former players and the netizens online, who questioned his position in the Indian squad. Chopra backed Rana and questioned his critique of how many bowlers in the current Indian fast bowling lot are considered all-format?
“Let’s not get carried away yet. He doesn’t deserve the hate. It’s not his mistake. If you have to give hate, give it to someone else, and not to him, because he is not asking for him to be selected. You select him and he comes and plays. He tries to win the match, and whether he is able to do that or not is a separate issue,” Chopra said.
“It will happen. Let’s make a long list of fast bowlers who are close to the Indian team – (Mohammed) Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana at the moment, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep. Who else? Mohammad Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are not there,” Chopra said on YouTube.
