Fast-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana will stay with the Indian Test team in England, a report stated, quoting sources. Harshit Rana was in England with the India ‘A’ team to play two four-day matches against the England Lions and an intra-squad game against the Test team in Beckenham.
India pacer Harshit Rana, who was part of the ‘A’ squad, has been asked to stay back in England and join the senior team ahead of the Headingley Test. Most fans are finding the call to have Harshit Rana and not Anshul Kamboj baffling. Fans feel Harshit Rana was chosen as he is part of the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise and has the backing of Gautam Gambhir.
Harshit Rana’s incredible cricket journey and stellar performance in international cricket
Despite the criticism from an India legend Sunil Gavaskar for his behavior of silencing Mayank Agarwal on the field as a gesture of celebration , for Harshit Rana — who ended the game with figures of 3/33, including the wickets of Mayank Agarwal, Shahbaz Ahmed and Heinrich Klassen — the game had a fairytale ending.
Harshit Rana got his break with KKR back in 2022 with some help from Nitish Rana, who had initially recommended his name to Abhishek Nayar before a trial. Harshit Rana was playing as a net bowler for Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2022 season when KKR’s Rasikh Salam injured his back. When they were looking for a replacement, Nayar called Harshit Rana.
Harshit Rana had made his debut for KKR in 2022, when he was hit for a boundary off the first ball. But he managed to come back with a wicket two balls later. That was the only wicket he would take in the 2022 season where he got to play two matches for KKR. In the 2023 season, Harshit Rana claimed five wickets in six games.
What stands out is that while the right-arm fast bowler hails from New Delhi, and has played age group cricket for them, he was called up by KKR as a replacement for the injured Salam in IPL 2022 before he could make his debut at the senior level for Delhi.
Harshit Rana had a bright 2022-23 first-class season with Delhi, picking up 21 wickets in five Ranji Trophy games, but then injuries prevented him from playing a lot of red-ball cricket. With the white ball, though, he has been fantastic for Delhi: 22 wickets in 14 Vijay Hazare Trophy games, and 28 in 25 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s.
At IPL 2024, in front of a packed Eden Gardens, he managed to nail his blockhole deliveries, wide yorkers and slow bouncers to finish as the tournament’s joint-fourth-highest wicket-taker, playing his part in KKR’s run to the title.
Leading up to his IPL exploits, Rana had trained under Bhandari and Narinder Singh Negi at Delhi’s Players’ Academy. “If you talk about skill-set, then Bhandari sir and Negi sir have been my personal coaches for the past two years,” Rana said. Bhandari, a Delhi stalwart who played two ODIs for India between 2000 and 2004 and is now an assistant coach with Gujarat Titans, spoke to PTI about the time he spent with Harshit Rana.
Harshit Rana made his Test debut on last year’s tour of Australia, where he took only four wickets at an average of 50.75, with his best figures being 3-48 in Perth. He was not selected for the upcoming five-match series against England, as the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee chose Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, and Prasidh Krishna for the fast-bowling department alongside JasprIt Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
Overall, Harshit Rana from New Delhi averages 27.79 with the ball in 13 first-class games, having taken 48 wickets. He also averages 32.80 with the bat, including a century and two fifties. Following the rising noise , former Indian pacer Dodda Ganesh has been bemused ny Gautam Gambhir’s uncanny obsession for Harshit Rana.
Dodda Ganesh furious with biasedness towards Harshit Rana
Former India all-rounder Dodda Ganesh has vented his frustration amid reports that Harshit Rana will continue to stay with the senior team in the UK for the upcoming five-match Test series against England, which begins at Headingley in Leeds, starting June 20. The 51-year-old instead suggested another pacer in Anshul Kamboj, who represented India A against England Lions, alongside Rana, in recently concluded practice matches to prepare for the Test series.
“Anshul Kamboj should have been added to the squad. Don’t understand this obsession with Harshit Rana.”
Dodda’s remarks came after Harshit Rana returned with figures of 1/99 against England Lions in the first unofficial Test in Canterbury. On the contrary, Kamboj bagged five wickets in two games, returning with figures of 1/69 (Canterbury), 2/56, and 2/6 (Northampton). The 24-year-old proved equally handy with the bat as he scored an unbeaten 51 in the second essay of the second unofficial Test.
While Kamboj has yet to make his India debut, Harshit Rana has played for the national team across all formats. The 23-year-old made his Test debut during the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar trophy Down Under. The lanky pacer bagged four wickets in his debut Test in Perth, the only game of the five-match series where the visitors won before losing by a 1-3 margin. He, however, returned with figures of 0/86 in his second outing in Adelaide.
FC cricket stats:
Anshul Kamboj: 79 scalps in 24 matches
Harshit Rana: 48 wickets in 13 games
Meanwhile, the Indian team will reach Leeds on June 17, where Gambhir, who had left for personal reasons, will join them. The first Test match against England will be played in the city from June 20. This is a crucial series for India as they look to prove their mettle on foreign soil. Notably, Shubman Gill will lead India in this series with Rishabh Pant being his deputy.
India, captained by Shubman Gill, aim to win a Test series in England for the first time since 2007. The five-match Test series, to be played at Headingley, Edgbaston, Lord’s, Old Trafford, and The Oval, will also be India’s first assignment in the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
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