Need for speed: Pacer Harshit’s performance, especially with the uncertainty over Bumrah’s availability, bodes well for the Men in Blue.
| Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR
The ongoing ODI series is India’s last chance to get its house in order ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy.
While the convincing four-wicket win in the opening fixture here gave some positive cues, a few more pieces of the puzzle remain to be solved.
At a time when the Indian team and fans are sweating over Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness and availability for the ICC event, it was imperative that someone like Harshit Rana got match practice to give the management an option in case the former doesn’t recover in time.
The 23-year-old pacer has had a dream run in the last few months, starting with his Test debut in Australia in November, followed by his maiden T20I appearance a week ago. On Thursday, he completed his collection of international caps when he made his ODI debut at the VCA Stadium and gave a good account of himself.
He struck thrice (7-1-53-3) and helped restrict England to a modest score before the batters chased down the target easily.
More than the wickets, what was more heartening was the way he bounced back strongly after being taken for 37 runs in his first three overs.
“There are always ups and downs in cricket. I only wanted to focus on my length, bowl where I have to, and I got rewarded later,” said Harshit when asked about being taken for 26 runs in an over by Phil Salt. But the Delhi pacer made the requisite adjustments in his second spell and bent his back to trouble Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone with extra bounce.
“You can say that it was planned. Earlier, I wanted to set him up by bowling a bit full, and then I bowled a good short delivery and got the reward,” Harshit added about the Brook dismissal.
These are still early days for Harshit, and there will be tougher challenges ahead, but for now, he and the team will be pleased with the start.
Besides Harshit, Ravindra Jadeja (three for 26) too was impressive in his first ODI since November 2023, while Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill looked serene.
India’s Mohammed Shami in action during the first ODI match against England, at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, on Thursday, Feb. 06, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
DEEPAK KR
Mohammed Shami also appeared in good rhythm, beating the edges despite going for some runs in the PowerPlay. He hurried the batters with pace and bounce in his second spell before cleaning up Brydon Carse.
At the same time, there are still areas of worry, chief among them being Rohit Sharma’s poor form. The skipper’s mode of soft dismissals signals an emerging pattern of concern and has only two more chances to fix it.
More interestingly, Shreyas claimed that if not for Virat Kohli’s last-minute injury, he might have sat out for Yashasvi Jaiswal. The coaching set-up prefers to have a mix of left-and-right-handed batters, and it remains to be seen if they will pursue this moving forward and push the likes of Gill and Kohli one slot down. And now that Shreyas has made runs, it will be interesting to see who will make way when Kohli returns?
Published – February 07, 2025 11:07 pm IST
