Days after getting his maiden Test call-up for the upcoming India tour of Australia, Harshit Rana repaid the selectors' faith with an all-round performance against Assam in the Ranji Trophy.
Assam were bowled out for 330 in the first innings, thanks to the Delhi pacer who led the bowling attack with a five-wicket haul. The lion's share of scoring was done by the wicketkeeper-batter SC Ghandigaonkar with a knock of 162 off 237. None of the other batters went past a score of 35.
Delhi’s start in their first innings was far from ideal, losing their first wicket off the first ball as opener Gagan Vats was caught lbw by Mukhtar Hussain. Top-order batters Sanat Sangwan and Yash Dhull scored 47 each, and skipper Himmat Singh scored 55, and made up for the early setback.
Assamese bowlers fought back in the middle phase, dismissing middle-order batters Jonty Sidhu and Pranav for 13 and 12 respectively. Sumit Mathur and Rana led the resurrection with a partnership of 99 runs for the seventh wicket before the 22-year-old was dismissed for 59 off 78. Mathur also scored a half-century and was on 65 off 151 at the stroke of lunch on Day Three.
Rana has impressed in his young first-class career, taking 36 wickets at an average of 24.75 and a strike rate of 38.0 in 16 innings. He has registered best innings figures of 7-45 and match figures of 10-108 and also has three four-wicket hauls.
He also has a respectful batting record to go with his outstanding bowling numbers, a factor that would have played a major part in his selection for the upcoming Australia Test series. Rana has scored 469 runs in 14 innings at an average of 42.6 and a best of 122 not out. He is among the three uncapped players that will make the trip to Australia along with Abhimanyu Easwaran and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
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