India pacer Harshit Rana on Thursday expressed he is not bothered by the outside noise and his only focus is to deliver for the country after taking a three-wicket haul on his ODI debut against England here. The 23-year-old right-arm quick made his T20I debut last week with another match-winning performance in Pune, coming on as a concussion substitute for all-rounder Shivam Dube. Rana took 3/33 to swing the game in India’s favour after he was approved as a replacement for Dube, a decision which was later criticised by England.
“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,” Rana said at the post match press conference after India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series with a four-wicket win.
Rana, who was named in the squad for this series as a cover for Jasprit Bumrah who remains on a comeback trail, said he was ready for being named in the playing XI.
“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.” Rana bowled a 26-run over in which his KKR teammate Phil Salt hit him for three sixes and two fours before the pacer turned things around by striking twice in an over to get rid of Ben Duckett and Harry Brook.
“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 focussed on hitting the right areas,” he said.
The Delhi quick feels the 50-over format is “difficult” given it requires a bowler to play different roles.
“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.”
Salt run-out turning point
England were off to a fiery start with Phil Salt going hammer and tongs against the Indian bowlers. However, a terrible mix up and an accurate throw by Shreyas Iyer brought an end to the opener’s innings, which according to the losing skipper Jos Buttler was the turning point of the match.
“It can happen in cricket. We really had the momentum at that point and absolutely once we’ve got it, we need to continue to keep putting the opposition under pressure for longer,” Buttler said.
“I think that’s been the story for us so far — how can we keep that momentum going for a bit longer when we’ve got it? And when we’ve got it, hold on to it.” he added.
The skipper was, however, lavish in his praise for the young Jacob Bethell, who scored a resolute fifty.
“I was watching him bat and saying ‘I couldn’t remember how to bat at 21’, it took me till I was about 28, I think! I’m really pleased for him. He didn’t find it easy at the start but he was very mature, measured, soaked up some pressure and came through it. It was a really mature innings from him. He’ll learn a lot from this, it’s a really good experience,” Buttler said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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