They say ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.’ But what if life gives you a white ball and asks you to bowl at one of the most destructive batting line ups in the world when it comes to the shortest format of the game? 2024 has been a roller coaster year for Indian fast bowler Harshit Rana. With Gautam Gambhir taking over the reins of Kolkata Knight Riders as mentor in 2024, Harshit came into his own. KKR faced Sunrisers Hyderabad in the third match of IPL 2024. It was a cliffhanger, with SRH needing 13 runs off the final over. KKR captain Shreyas Iyer tossed the ball to Harshit & told him ‘now is the chance to become a hero, take it.’ And boy did he grab it with both hands! The set Heinrich Klassen tonked him for a six off the very first ball of the over.
Harshit did not flinch under pressure. He sent back Shabhaz Ahmed off the third ball & eventually got the better of Klassen with the penultimate ball of the over to give KKR a four run win. Harshit continued to shine throughout the tournament picking up 19 wickets in the 13 matches that he played, missing one match due to suspension. That, of course, is a story for another day.
With the GG era being ushered in Indian cricket immediately after the IPL, Harshit Rana was picked as a trump card for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. Eyebrows were raised, questions were asked with many labelling the selection as ‘GG or KKR quota.’ But there are reasons why social media doesn’t get to pick the Indian team & the responsibility lies with the selection committee, the coach and the captain of the team. Harshit debuted in favourable seaming conditions in Perth & played a strong hand in India’s only win of the series. With Jasprit Bumrah breathing fire at one end, Harshit played the perfect second fiddle, validating his selection.
India played by the rules. Blame match referee for using his discretion on conclusion sub.
It’s not the first time teams have benefited from loopholes in the rules. England did in 2019.@BoriaMajumdar writes.@BCCI#INDvENG #HarshitRana https://t.co/XW0N8zaAkN
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) February 1, 2025
Travis Head, who would go on to torment India later in the series, was removed in the first innings by an absolute peach by Harshit. The 22 year-old debutant bowled a jaffa that angled in & straightened off the seam, beating Head’s defence & castling him. Harshit bowled with heart & fire, with his KKR teammate Mitchell Starc exclaiming ‘I bowl faster than you Harshit’ after being beaten for pace against his former teammate. With the debutant exceeding expectations, he was trusted with the pink ball in the next Test as well. But the honeymoon phase was over, it seemed. The same Head tore into him, dispatching him all around the ground. The lack of experience showed & Harshit quickly ran out of ideas, turning out to be expensive & lost. He was dropped for the rest of the series, with the more experienced Akash Deep & Prasidh Krishna making the cut & arguably so.
However, Harshit remained in contention & was picked for the 5 match T20I series against England at home. But who are your frontline seamers? Ofcourse, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, with Hardik Pandya sharing the new ball & playing the second/third seamer appreciably. But again, life decided to hand Harshit lemons in the fourth T20I in Pune. Shivam Dube went hammer and tongs against England before being hit on the head in the last over.
The concussion sub rule was evoked with Harshit himself admitting post match that he was asked to don the Indian jersey & take the field within 5 minutes. Harshit did not disappoint, showing that this new look Indian T20 side post the Ro-Ko era is adapt to international challenges better than any team in the world right now. Harshit bowled beautifully under lights, picking up the important wickets of Liam Livingstone (the man who turned it around for England in the last match) & Jacob Bethell. Harshit returned in the penultimate over with Overton and Rashid at the crease, and the match still very much in the balance. A repeat of that IPL match against SRH followed (well almost), with Overton tonking him for a four off the first ball of the over. Harshit kept his calm, went back to his bowling mark & delivered one good ball after the other.
A mix-up between Samson and Chakravarthy denied him a well-deserved wicket off the third ball of the over, but finally, he managed to make lemonade despite running out of lemons! Getting rid of Overton with the last ball of the 19th over sealed the deal for India. But will it seal the deal for Harshit in this Indian side? He is very young & has a long way to go. Is he in line for the England tour? The answer should be a yes, not merely because he is delivering under pressure but because of his fighting spirit & never say die attitude. Come the IPL, Harshit Rana will be entrusted with leading the KKR pace battery (remember, there’s no Starc this year), and like always, he will be more than happy to put his hand up. As he wakes up today after a dream debut for India in Tests & now T20Is, maybe Harshit will raise a silent toast to the KKR bowling coach, Bharat Arun, the ‘Chanakya’ of Indian bowling for a long time now. The moment for now, is yours Harshit. Cheers.
Also Read: India Clinch T20I Series 3-1 as Hardik, Dube, Harshit, and Bishnoi Shine in Pune
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