India pacer Harshit Rana well and truly shut out the outside noise over his selection in the ODI team with figures of 4/39 in the Sydney ODI against Australia on Saturday. Harshit had become a constant target for critics ever since he was named in India’s squad for the ODI series Down Under. The 23-year-old performed with both the bat and the ball, silencing the negative chatter, especially thanks to his performance in Sydney. Speaking after the match, Harshit was asked about his most prized wicket from the match. The pacer then narrated an intriguing story involving Rohit Sharma.
Rana picked up the wickets of Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, and Josh Hazlewood. Of these, the pacer revealed that Owen’s wicket was his favourite. Explaining the reason, Harshit revealed that the wicket became possible only after he listened to advice given by Rohit, after ignoring skipper Shubman Gill.
“Mitch Owen, because I’ll tell you a story. Shubman asked me if I wanted a slip, and I was like, ‘No, I don’t need a slip.’ Then Rohit bhai was standing at cover, and he said, ‘Hey, take the slip, let me go.’ So I thought, ‘Why not, Bhaiya, you go ahead.’ And then I got the wicket and I was like, ‘Thank you so much, Bhaiya.'”
Harshit Rana to Mitchell Owen, THATS OUT!! Caught!!#INDvsAUS #IndianCricket pic.twitter.com/2N3tjS8J34
— Voice of Asia (@Asianewss) October 25, 2025
“I saw him (Gill) pointing towards you after that wicket, like ‘I told you to take the slip, take the slip,'” said the presenter with a laugh.
The field changes reaped the desired rewards as Harshit got the wicket of Owen on the next delivery. The intriguing takeaway from the story is that while Harshit is still taking time to fully come on board with the strategies of skipper Shubman Gill, he has full faith in what his predecessor Rohit Sharma says on the field.
Speaking on JioStar’s ‘Cricket Live’ programme, Rana shared insights into his plans in the Sydney gam. He said that he was not trying to attack, but was focusing more on his line, length and bowling in the right areas.
“I felt my bowling rhythm was much better today. In the beginning, I was not trying to attack; I was just trying to bowl in the right areas. I didn’t get wickets early on, but that was part of my plan since I had the new ball. I was focused on line and length, and it worked. Talking about outswingers, that’s something I have been developing, and I was happy to execute that well today,” he said.