Harshit Rana’s rapid rise in international cricket can be well attributed to Gautam Gambhir’s ascent to the coaching job. Harshit Rana and Gautam first worked together in the 2024 IPL at the Kolkata Knight Riders and Gautam got to see and understand the talent of Harshit Rana. He has a good understanding and maybe because of the continuity Gautam prefers him. After a successful IPL, Harshit Rana made his debut in all three formats.
Under Gambhir he made his debut in the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia and started well in Perth by picking up 3 wickets. But he was disappointing in the next game which was the Pink Ball Test in Adelaide where he went for plenty of runs and hardly got success. He was dropped from the subsequent matches. His Test record shows him playing 2 matches and taking 4 wickets at an average of 50.8.
Thereafter, ahead of Champions Trophy 2025, Harshit Rana made his ODI debut in the 3-match ODI series against England. He was picked in the squad in place of the injured Jasprit Bumrah. He was expensive with the new ball, but came back well with the old ball to pick up wickets. He played all 3 games against England and the first two Champions Trophy games before making way for Varun Chakravarthy in the subsequent Champions Trophy games. His ODI figures are decent with 10 wickets from 5 games at an average of 20.7 and economy of 5.69.
Surprisingly, Harshit has played only one T20I game as a concussion substitute in place of Shivam Dube and managed to pick three wickets in that game. His IPL record is decent with 40 wickets in 34 games at an economy of 9.51 and average of 25.7.
It is through IPL that he made his debut for India in all three formats. Still when the T20I Asia Cup in 2025 arrived, Harshit Rana was given preference over the likes of Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj . However nothing played well for Harshit Rana as he was taken to cleaners in 2 matches played in Asia Cup 2025 vs Oman and Sri Lanka.
When everyone thought this was his full stop atleast for sometime, BCCI selectors alongside Gautam Gambhir sprung another surprise including the seamer for the 3 match ODI series vs Australia. Harshit Rana played well in the Australia series taking a 4-fer in the final ODI. This performance made the selectors include him for the New Zealand series followed by the marquee World Cup T20 2026 . However his teammate Ajinkya Rahane in the IPL feels that though a confident guy Harshit Rana might end warming the bench in the World Cup 2026
Ajinkya Rahane believes that Harshit Rana is a confident guy but will find it difficult to make into Playing XI in the World Cup 2026 squad
In his Youtube video, Ajinkya Rahane also stated that Inda pacer Harshit Rana might miss out on the Playing XI for the World Cup, but he remains a confident bowler capable of making an impact in the early overs . He said :
“Harshit Rana, I feel, is a very confident player. He has a lot of belief in his abilities. Recently, we have seen that he has picked up wickets with the new ball for the team. Whether it is the 50-over format or the T20 matches we have seen, including in the IPL, he gets wickets in the first or second over.
That is a very good quality. If you have a fast bowler who can get you a wicket in the first or second over, that breakthrough and that momentum is something every team looks for.”
“So it might be difficult for Harshit Rana to get a chance in the playing XI because you already have Jasprit Bumrah. Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube can also bowl two or three overs. But whenever he gets an opportunity, I am sure Harshit will play his role really well because he is a very confident guy and he knows exactly what his role in the team is,” he added.
The Delhi pacer has played 6 T20Is , claiming seven wickets at an average of 24.71 , at a strike rate of 14.5, and an economy of 10.17, with his best bowling figures being 3 for 33 and would love to impress further with the New Zealand series starting from January 11.
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