Duleep Trophy: KKR star Harshit Rana sizzles on 'spicy' Anantapur wicket

One thing that the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 reinstated is that India’s pace-bowling stock was at an all-time high. The emergence of Harshit Rana as a strike bowler for Kolkata Knight Riders was one of the most significant talking points from the league, with 19 wickets, averaging 20.15. 

And Rana hasn’t looked back since then. The Delhi pacer was on absolute fire in the Duleep Trophy clash against a Ruturaj Gaikwad-led India C side on a ‘spicy’ wicket in Anantapur. After India C were bowled out for 164, it was a one-man show where Rana stole the headline on September 6 (Friday) with the best figures (4/33) thus far in round one of the Duleep Trophy. 

The 22-year-old was breathing fire, first removing the in-form Sai Sudharsan with a tickle down the leg side before accounting for the opposition skipper Gaikwad with a brute of a delivery. Rana bowled at a good length, with the ball moving just enough away from the right-handed Gaikwad, squaring him up completely and making a simple catch for Atharva Taide at slips.

Also Read: Harshit Rana Interview - “Aggression comes naturally to me”

It was followed with his trademark ‘flying kiss’ celebration, which has beckoned trouble to him over the last few months. But it didn’t deter Rana, who continued his aggressive celebration, with the first wicket of day one when he trapped Abhishek Porel right in front. It was quick, fiery and, more importantly, on target, which was enough even for a well-set Porel (34 off 61). 

Rana then broke down Manav Suthar’s resistance with some pin-point short-ball barrage. First, he rapped on the left-hander’s helmet before an accurate short ball saw Suthar fend straight to the hands of Yash Dubey. It is this aggression that sets the Delhi pacer apart from the competition, with his consistent ability to hit the back-of-a-length and short area troubling the batters. 

What made all of this more special is that three out of the four wickets were top-order batters and were brilliantly set up by the Delhi pacer. 

“Gauti bhaiya always supports me and tells me ‘Play the game as you have always played, no need to change yourself," Harshit told Cricket.com in an interview earlier this year. 

With Gautam Gambhir at the helm, there's a good chance that Harshit might well be on the radar to make his red-ball debut sooner or later. 

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