Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif reckons many bowlers, including Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, are ahead of Harshit Rana in the pecking order to play all three formats for India. Rana has been picked for the ODI and T20I series against Australia.
However, Kaif reckons the pressure is building on the Delhi fast bowler as he has failed to live up to the lofty expectations thus far. The former Uttar Pradesh batter highlighted that Rana was taken to the cleaners in the Asia Cup and looked raw when he was handed his Test debut against Australia in 2024 in the Border-Gavaskar series.
Kaif said on a YouTube Live session, “There are many players who deserve to play in all three formats. Among the bowlers, Mohammed Siraj is one of them as he lacks nothing. He was the No. 1 bowler in ODIs, but he didn’t go to the Champions Trophy, while Harshit Rana did. In T20s, Siraj bowled well for GT in the IPL, and he deserves to play all three formats. Prasidh Krishna also deserves it. There are many bowlers who are ahead of Harshit Rana.”
“Now Rana is under pressure because he also knows that he is not as deserving, and that he has gotten the chance to play all formats too quickly. He is not yet ready to play Tests, perform in ODIs, and win matches in T20Is. When he played in Australia, he looked like the weakest bowler. He played, got hit around, and was then dropped.”
Kaif reckons Rana himself didn’t expect to play all three formats for India this soon.
“He looked very raw, and now he is under pressure because he himself didn’t expect to be in all three formats. He also got exposed. His main strength was his slower ball (his wicket-taking delivery), and his arm action didn’t change, but now batters have started hitting that same ball for sixes. We saw it in the Asia Cup, and his yorker is not his strength,” he continued.
On the other hand, Kaif urged the selectors to pick veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami even if he is 70% fit.
“Even if Mohammed Shami is 70% fit, just give him the new ball, there’s no doubt about it. He has never really been fully fit; he’s had knee issues and returned only after a lot of rehab. Selectores said they’re not sure about him and his fitness since he hasn’t played much recently. But we saw him in the Champions Trophy, even though there wasn’t much grass on the pitch, he still took wickets there. There hasn’t been any bowler who can take over from him.”
Shami is currently out of action and he would look to bounce back strongly.
