Indian pacer Harshit Rana has been credited largely for his maiden half-century, which came when it mattered the most for India. Former Indian selector Kris Srikkanth, while hailing Virat Kohli’s knock, also highlighted Harshit’s power-hitting calibre.
India went on to lose their second consecutive series under Shubman Gill’s captaincy. 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 deeply praised by the former BCCI selector.
Harshit Rana unleashed his firepower for India in Indore
India were under immense pressure when the top-order and middle-order batters were back in the pavilion with just 71 runs on the board. Virat Kohli, alongside Nitish Kumar Reddy, then started off with a promising partnership.
Under pressure, the two stabilized the Indian innings with their maiden half-century, but the game slipped away constantly with the back-to-back dismissals of the two all-rounders.
Later, Harshit Rana showed composure as Rana rose to the occasion, stitching a crucial stand with Virat Kohli while bringing up his maiden half-century, which had briefly revived India’s hopes in the game. However, the match ultimately ended with India losing the game.
Harshit Rana’s biggest critic, Kris Srikkanth, was forced to hail the batter’s standout innings
The Former Indian star Kris Srikkanth, who had been one of Rana’s biggest critics, was forced to praise the batter following his splendid impact with the bat in the second innings in Indore. He started off with the praise of Virat Kohli and then shifted to Rana.
“Virat Kohli is King of Kings. Bow down to him. What a knock! If you look at the scorecard and the fall of wickets, they fell continuously. It was 1/28, 2/45, 3/68 and 4/71. Nitish Kumar Reddy came and steadied the innings and later hit sixes,” said Srikkanth on his YouTube channel.
Rana’s power-hitting had shifted the momentum in the Indore game. Rana has always been effective for India whenever they have chased runs in the second innings. However, Srikkanth pointed out that his onslaught left the opposition players shaken with fear.
“But the real game-changer was Harshit Rana. The way Rana was batting, New Zealand players were shivering. I was amazed by Rana’s batting and performed at a different level. They were literally shaking and didn’t know what to do. He was hitting sixes effortlessly, and his batting was tremendous,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
“New Zealand were scared. New Zealand’s captain was scared too,” said Srikkanth
Having praised the efforts of Harshit Rana, he highlighted Rana’s impact during the partnership with Virat Kohli. He stressed the fact that the chase looked like it was slipping away until Harshit Rana helped India dominate with their attacking approach.
He also noted that the required run rate, which had once gone past the 11-runs-per-over mark, lowered slightly to 10 when Rana was batting ferociously from one end alongside Kohli’s reassurance from the other.
“Out of the 99 runs that Virat Kohli and Harshit Rana added, Rana made 52. Those 52 runs were crucial and gave Kohli hope, even though the asking rate was above 11. Rana’s hitting reduced it to 10, and New Zealand were scared. New Zealand’s captain was scared too,” he added.
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