Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth said Harshit Rana had a good opportunity to win the Player of the Match in the second ODI against Australia. Rana scored 24 runs off 18 balls to add the finishing touches and helped India post 264 runs on the board.
Subsequently, the Delhi fast bowler accounted for Travis Head and Matthew Short but conceded 59 runs in the eight overs he bowled. Rana dismissed Australia’s top run-scorer Short with a good bouncer to get India back into the contest but Mitchell Owen and Cooper Connolly added 59 runs off just 36 balls to end the visitors’ hope.
Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “He bowled very well in his first spell and picked up two good wickets. I thought India had won the match. In fact, when he picked up the second wicket, I thought he had a good chance to be the Player of the Match with a crucial 24 and two wickets. But exactly then, he bowled short ball after short ball and got smashed.”
“Bowling short at that pace is no use. Australians love short-pitched bowling and we fed them repeatedly. Harshit Rana bowls well when he comes over the wicket but gets smashed when he goes round the wicket. He took the first wicket out of the confidence he got with his knock. I thought after getting a second wicket, he got his confidence back. But after that he and the rest of the bowlers fed Mitchell Owen and Cooper Connolly. He bowled a terrible second spell. First spell he bowled very well.”
The 1983 World Cup-winning player praised Rana for adding the finishing touches to India’s total.
“I’ll be honest, he really batted well today. What I liked was the way he cut the ball. He played like a middle order batter, his shots. The partnership between him and Arshdeep Singh was very crucial. I thought the two of them got us to a winning position. India was supposed to be bowled out for 230, which would have been a complete collapse,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).
The third and final ODI between India and Australia will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.
