By Karan Agrawal 
India’s young pacer Harshit Rana is taking rapid strides in international cricket since impressing everyone with his pace and accuracy in IPL 2024. The 23-year-old pacer received a surprise call-up to the test squad before India’s tour of Australia and made his test debut in the first test match in Perth where he took the important wicket of Travis Head, Although Rana failed to continue the good work as the series progressed, he bowled with accuracy on his first trip ‘Down Under’. Life went on for Harshit as he was a part of the squad for the T20I and ODI series against England with the chances of him making his debut in the respective formats looking minimal.
The Reaction
But as they say, cricket is a game of great uncertainties and that’s exactly what happened with Harshit Rana as he replaced Shivam Dube in the fourth T20I against England as a concussion substitute and picked up three wickets on debut to guide India to a come from behind win. But as luck would have it Harshit’s memorable debut was overshadowed by the controversial choice of sending him as a like-for-like replacement of Shivam Dube. Reacting to the highly debated call Harshit Rana said “I believe that people will keep on talking. I just want to play, good or bad. I’m not bothered, I just want to deliver for my country. I don’t pay attention to those talks.”
The Communication
Harshit who was added to India’s ODI squad following uncertainty over Bumrah’s fitness picked up three wickets after conceding 37 runs in his first four overs. When asked about when he came to know that he was making his ODI debut? Harshit said “You get to know only when you come to the ground. Mentally, I’m always prepared whenever I come to the ground. I know that I can play anytime, anything can happen. So, mentally, I always keep myself prepared.”
The Mindset
Although Harshit picked up three wickets on his ODI debut the fast bowler had a tough start as he was hit for 26 runs in an over by Phil Salt. Talking about how he coped with the pressure and the challenges he faced during the first ODI Harshit said “There are always ups and downs in cricket, I only wanted to focus on my length, bowl where I have to, and I got the reward for that later. I didn’t do anything different in my second spell, just focused on hitting the right areas. This format is a bit difficult because it’s a long format, you get (to bowl) 10 overs. You have to play different roles in different phases. But if you practice it (well), it’s good,” he remarked.