INDIA head coach Gautam Gambhir has an affinity for allrounders and fast bowler Harshit Rana has confirmed that the team management has asked him to work on improving his batting skills. Rana played a vital role in India’s four-wicket victory in the opening ODI against New Zealand here on Sunday, taking a couple of wickets at the top to derail the Kiwis’ progress and chipped in with a vital 29 off 23 late in the chase. Rana batted ahead of an injured Washington Sundar.

 

“The team management wants to groom me as an all-rounder and it is my task to keep working on it,” Rana told reporters. “I am working on it in the nets as well, and it was a matter of confidence which KL (Rahul) bhai helped me with when I went in (to bat). I kept my focus on it and made the runs,” he added. “My team wants me to bat at No 8 as an all-rounder and whatever time I can give to it in the nets, I focus on that.

 

I believe I can score 30-40 runs for the team lower down the order whenever needed and that’s what the team management believes that I can do as well,” Rana added. Rana put on 37 runs for the sixth wicket to stabilise India’s innings in the chase with Rahul, after they lost Virat Kohli (93), Jadeja (4) and Shreyas Iyer (49) in quick succession. “Till Virat bhai was there it felt that the match would end early, maybe with 5-6 overs to spare but a game of cricket can change anytime and you cannot predict it.”

 

When asked if the Indian bowlers struggle to take wickets upfront with the new ball in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Rana retorted by saying the troika of Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and he bowled well. “I don’t know what cricket you are watching, even today if we did not get the (early) wickets, Siraj bhai bowled really well. We did not give away a lot of runs either with the new ball,” he said. “But these things happen, if you do not get wickets early on then you will get them later, which is what we did.”