Courtesy: BCCI
On Thursday, February 6, Harshit Rana, the Indian fast bowler, made his ODI debut against England at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur, and he picked up three wickets. After England were bundled out for 248 runs in 47.4 overs, the 23-year-old spoke to the host broadcaster in a mid-innings interview, wherein he admitted to be living a “dream life” following his special performance with the ball for the Indian cricket team.
During his opening spell during the first power play stage, Harshit Rana had quite a battle with England opener Phil Salt, who smashed him for a couple of fours in the first over. Rana responded with a maiden over against Salt before getting taken to the cleaners for 26 runs in the next over, which included two fours and three maximums, but still, it didn’t deter him from picking up the wicket of Ben Duckett and Harry Brook in the first over of his second spell.
Dream life, but I have worked hard and I am reaping the rewards: Harshit Rana
Harshit Rana conceded 53 runs in the seven overs bowled across multiple spells against England in the first ODI, but dismissing the likes of Ben Duckett and Harry Brook, followed by Liam Livingstone made it a memorable day for the right reasons. During the mid-innings interview, he was quoted as saying, as per ESPNcricinfo, “Dream life, but I have worked hard and I am reaping the rewards. The idea was to bowl in a certain length. I was taken for runs earlier but still I stuck to it. They were trying to chance their arms when given the room, so Rohit asked me to bowl at the stumps.”
“The wicket is slightly double-paced, the odd ball stops on it. We have bounced back well, bowlers have done well. It is a good total, we can chase it down, he added. With the impressive bowling performance from Harshit Rana and the experienced Ravindra Jadeja, both picking up three wickets each against England in the first ODI, the Indian cricket team restricted them to a total below 250 runs.
In the absence of Virat Kohli’s injury and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s inclusion, the batting lineup of India will be slightly different in the run chase than recent years.
