Since making his India debut in 2024, Harshit Rana has been slowly cementing his spot in the national team setup. Such has been his impact that even former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was full of praise. Manjrekar hailed his impact and also called him one of the ‘finds’ of the Indian bowling department. (India vs New Zealand 1st ODI LIVE Score)
Rana’s inclusion in the playing XI for the first ODI against New Zealand on Sunday received mixed reactions as it saw Arshdeep Singh get dropped.
‘Harshit Rana is one of the finds’
However, Manjrekar is a fan of Rana and pointed out his ‘T20 skillset’, which helped him set up dismissals. Speaking on JioHotstar’s pre-match show, he said, “Harshit Rana is one of the finds of the Indian team as far as the bowling is concerned. He can bowl in all phases of the game. Against South Africa, we saw how he exploits the new ball really well against experienced batters, and when we returns for his second or third spells, he uses his T20 skillset to set up dismissals of batters who are looking to take bowlers on. All in all, he adds to the wicket-taking ability that Indian seamers have been lacking in the middle overs. So, by his inclusion, the Indian bowling lineup seems quite complete.”
Rana once again justified his selection, removing both New Zealand openers. India won the toss and opted to bowl. But Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls gave the visitors a strong start, racing to half-centuries.
But it was Rana, who had the last laugh, removing both openers in the 22nd and 24th overs. First, he removed Nicholls for 62 off 69 deliveries, setting up the batter perfectly. Rana took the pace off and sent a full delivery, outside off. Nicholls was unsure, and it looked like he would leave it. But then he stretched to connect, and it took an outside edge for KL Rahul to take a diving catch behind the stumps as New Zealand fell to 117/1 in 21.4 overs.
Rana wasn’t done yet! In the final delivery of the 24th over, he changed pace again and sent a faster ball, on 142.2 kph. It was sent full and around off, and it nipped back in. Conway went for a drive to the off side, but got an inside edge, sending the ball to his own stumps. Conway departed for 56 off 67 balls, with New Zealand at 126/2 in 23.6 overs.
