Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana (PTI photo)

NEW DELHI: Harshit Rana has shown promise in his initial matches at the international level but the pacer might be an unlikely starter for India in the Champions Trophy with left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh to be the preferred choice.
Harshit featured in all three ODIs against England and the tall Delhi pacer put up a reasonable performance in the home games but Arshdeep due to his superior talent and quality is likely to partner up with Shami at the start of the tournament.
Arshdeep maintains a better economy rate of 5.17 compared to Harshit’s 6.95 per over and his ability to make the ball swing into right-handed batsmen during Powerplay overs also gives him a distinct advantage.
Arshdeep, who has played nine ODIs since his debut in New Zealand in 2022, holds an edge when considering the conditions in Dubai.
“Harshit has improved by leaps and bounds in terms of reducing his weight and has become sharper in terms of speed. But if I had to choose one among the two as Mohammed Shami’s partner, it has to be Arshdeep as he can swing the ball both ways and is a left-armer. I would be a trifle surprised if Harshit starts ahead of Arshdeep,” former national selector Devang Gandhi, who has also seen Rana from close quarters as Delhi Ranji coach, told PTI.
Harshit played all three games against England because the team management, led by Gautam Gambhir, wanted to evaluate him as a potential replacement for Jasprit Bumrah and assess Shami’s fitness.
Arshdeep was given rest during the first two matches and only played when the team decided to rest Shami after consecutive ODIs.
“Arshadeep, due to his relative experience and the left arm being a different dimension, has an advantage. The Dubai track will be decent for the pacers,” former India opener WV Raman observed.
“A bit more experience always helps in ICC events, which is a different ball game from bilaterals. In ICC event, you will play different opposition every day and accordingly an experienced bowler changes his plans,” said Raman.
“Harshit hits deck and gets it to move a bit both ways after pitching along with those effective occasional heavy balls in the range of mid 140s. But when you have Arshdeep, he can swing the new ball and also use angles of the crease effectively when he comes round the wicket during death overs,” Gandhi explained.
An NCA Level 2 coach, who had watched the India U-19 team play in Dubai during the Asia Cup, had observed that there is at least five to six inches more bounce on offer at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
“If you have that shade extra bounce for a swing bowler then playing Arshdeep is a no-brainer. Harshit is a good talent but if Shami is fit, then Arshdeep, for variation, experience and game awareness partners him,” the former NCA coach said.