Indian fast bowler Harshit Rana is largely credited for his maiden half-century, which came when it mattered most for India. Former Indian selector Kris Srikkanth, while praising Virat Kohli’s innings, also highlighted Harshit’s power-hitting ability.
India lost the second consecutive series under the captaincy of Shubman Gill. However, this marked the first time that India lost a home series against New Zealand in the 50-over format. However, India’s efforts were highly praised by the former BCCI selector.
Harshit Rana showed his talent for India in Indore
India were under immense pressure when the top-order and middle-order batsmen returned to the pavilion with just 71 runs on the board. Virat Kohli then started with a promising partnership with Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Under pressure, the duo stabilized the Indian innings with their maiden half-centuries, but the game continued to slip away with the two all-rounders getting out consecutively.
Later, Harshit Rana showed composure and Rana took advantage of the opportunity to score his maiden half-century along with Virat Kohli, briefly reviving India’s hopes in the game. However, the match ultimately ended in India’s defeat.
Kris Srikkanth, Harshit Rana’s biggest critic, was forced to appreciate the batsman’s extraordinary innings.
Former Indian star Kris Srikkanth, who was one of Rana’s biggest critics, was forced to praise the batsman after his impressive impact with the bat in the second innings in Indore. He started by praising Virat Kohli and then came to Rana.
Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel, “Virat Kohli is the king of kings. Hats off to him. What an innings! If you look at the scorecard and the fall of wickets, he fell continuously. It was 1/28, 2/45, 3/68 and 4/71. Nitish Kumar Reddy came in and took the innings forward and hit sixes later.”
Rana’s power-hitting had changed the momentum of Indore’s game. Whenever India has chased runs in the second innings, Rana has always been effective. However, Srikkanth pointed out that his attack left the opposition players in fear.
“But the real game-changer was Harshit Rana. The way Rana was batting, the New Zealand players were trembling. I was amazed by Rana’s batting and performing at a different level. He was literally trembling and didn’t know what to do. He was hitting sixes effortlessly, and his batting was tremendous,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
Srikanth said, “New Zealand was scared. The New Zealand captain was also scared.”
He lauded the efforts of Harshit Rana and highlighted the impact of Rana during his partnership with Virat Kohli. He highlighted the fact that until Harshit Rana helped India dominate with his attacking approach, the target seemed to be slipping away.
He also noted that the required run rate, which once crossed the 11-run-per-over mark, came down slightly to 10 with Rana batting fiercely from one end and Kohli providing assurance from the other end.
He said, “Of the 99 runs added by Virat Kohli and Harshit Rana, Rana scored 52. Those 52 runs were important and gave hope to Kohli, even though the asking rate was above 11. Rana’s hit reduced it to 10 and New Zealand got scared. The New Zealand captain also got scared.”
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