IND vs AUS, 3rd Test: Why India should not drop Harshit Rana in Brisbane

India pacer Harshit Rana woke up to the harsh reality in Adelaide that Test cricket was not a one-way street. After his debut heroics in Perth, Rana was taken apart by the Australian batters, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne in particular, as Australia hammered India by 10 wickets in the 2nd Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL hero and India’s young sensation in Perth, fans quickly forgot all of that and called for the pacer’s sacking from the playing XI. In a matter of days, Harshit went from India’s rising star to a KKR-quota player.

In the Adelaide Test match, Rana lacked control in both line and length as he sprayed the ball around. Head and Labuschagne punished the young pacer, smashing him for 17 runs in the final over of his spell on the morning of Saturday, December 7. Head hit a boundary and gave the strike to Labuschagne, who pulled and cut Rana for three more boundaries.

The difference in Rana’s fortunes was stark. In Perth, the pacer had picked up 4 wickets for a total of 117 runs. However, in Adelaide, Rana had conceded 86 runs from 16 overs at an economy rate of 5.37.

India captain Rohit Sharma, however, defended the pacer in the post-match press conference, stating that Rana merited his selection for the 2nd Test match, having bowled brilliantly. Interestingly, Rohit did not touch upon whether Rana would be included in the upcoming Test matches against Australia.

“Rana didn’t do anything wrong in the first Test and did well there. Whenever the team needed crucial breakthroughs, he provided them. I feel if a player hasn’t done anything wrong, he shouldn’t be dropped,” Rohit Sharma had said about Harshit Rana after the Adelaide Test match.

RANA NEEDS TO PLAY IN BRISBANE

While abuses are being hurled at Rana, perhaps it is important to realize that he is just 2 Tests old, and 2024 was his breakthrough season at the highest level of cricket. And perhaps the pink ball was not really suited to Harshit Rana’s attributes at all.

Yes, Rana did pick up 4 wickets with the pink ball during India’s warm-up game against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI, but all of those wickets came off short balls, where the batters aimlessly tried to hook and pull him.

Before the pink ball Test, India Today had argued that Akash Deep might have been better suited to the pink ball Test match than Rana.

That said, Rana’s tall frame and strong, muscular body might fit more naturally to the Brisbane track – at the iconic Gabba, where the pitch will carry a lot of bounce. Harshit might fare much better at the Gabba with his ability to extract bounce.

India should not make the mistake of benching Harshit and denting his confidence for the rest of the tour. If the Harshit experiment needs to end, India should give him one more chance on a pitch that is naturally suited to his abilities. If Harshit does not perform there, then a call to drop him from the playing XI might be taken by the team management.