New Delhi [India], October 25 (ANI): Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hailed Harshit Rana for his maiden four-wicket haul in ODIs, saying that he can “surprise batters” sometimes and has the genuine ability to take wickets.
Battling immense trolling after a few underwhelming spells, Rana bounced back with a four-wicket haul, in which he got wickets of middle-order batters Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly and Mitchell Owen as well. Ashwin, speaking on his YouTube channel Ash ki Baat, spoke about the Carey dismissal, where a top edge went into the hands of Shreyas Iyer, who came running from the backward point after the wicketkeeper-batter encountered a delivery that was “slow and up”
Ashwin, while praising the bowler’s spell and ability to surprise batters with his unpredictability, said that he must learn how to “construct his spells and get better day by day”.
“If you look at Harshit Rana’s bowling today, credit to him for getting those wickets. I will tell you why he got those wickets. Look at how he got Carey out, the ball before that, he bowled it slow and up, he deceived the batter. The next ball was short and wide. This is his speciality. He can surprise batters sometimes,” said the legendary spinner.
“He was leaking on both sides of the pitch during the first four overs, but after he got the wicket, especially that of Mitch Owen it shows why Gambhir and Gill have the faith in him. He has the genuine ability to take wickets. But he must know how to construct spells and get better day by day. A very young career that has a lot of promise. He has got a lot of backing, and I hope he learns on the go,” he added.
Reflecting on the bowling performances of spinners, Ashwin said Kuldeep Yadav, who got his first match of the series and figures of 1/50 in 10 overs, Ashwin said that he is glad that the spinner played even though he was “not at his best”. He also hailed spinner Washington Sundar, who took two wickets and Axar Patel, who got a wicket as well.
“He is my favourite. Kuldeep was not at his best but, I am happy that he played. But I want to talk about Washington Sundar. Axar Patel also has to be credited. Sundar does not leave the stumps in general. But he has pulled the length back by a fraction for the left-handers, but he has not done so for the right-handers. It shows you that he understands his bowling and how he operates within his limitations. He knows that there is not much rotation. His strength is drift,” he said.
Coming to the match, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. A 61-run stand between skipper Mitchell Marsh (41 in 50 balls, with five fours and a six) and Travis Head (29 in 25 balls, with six fours) started off things for Australia.
Matt Short contributed a knock of 30 in 41 balls, with two fours, and a 59-run stand between Matt Renshaw (56 in 58 balls, with two fours) and Alex Carey (24 in 37 balls, with a four) took the Aussies to 183/3. But from there, Aussies collapsed to 236 all out in 46.4 overs, with Harshit Rana (4/39 in 8.4 overs), Washington Sundar (2/44) being the pick of the bowlers and Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav getting one each.
In the 237 run-chase, India was off to a solid start with a 69-run opening stand between Shubman Gill (24 in 26 balls, with two fours and a six). From there, something happened that fans had waited for all series, as Rohit Sharma (121* in 125 balls, with 13 fours and three sixes) and Virat Kohli (74* in 81 balls, with seven fours) put on an unbeaten 168-run partnership and achieved several milestones, winning the match with nine wickets still in hand.
Rohit won the ‘Player of the Match’ award and the ‘Player of the Series’ award as well for top-scoring in the series with 202 runs, including a century and a fifty each. (ANI)
