"He had a good chance to be the Player of the Match" - Kris Srikkanth's huge take on Harshit Rana after AUS vs IND 2025 2nd ODI

Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth believes young pacer Harshit Rana could have been the Player of the Match had the Men in Blue won the second ODI against Australia in Adelaide. Srikkanth had recently criticized Rana's consistent selection in the Indian sides across formats.

Yet, while lauding his first spell with the ball, the former captain also felt that the young seamer bowled far too short in his second spell. Rana picked up the big wickets of Travis Head and Matthew Short but conceded 59 runs off his eight overs.

Talking about Harshit Rana's bowling after the game on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth said (19:15):

"He bowled very well in his first spell and picked up two good wickets. I thought India had won the match. In fact, when he picked up the second wicket, I thought he had a good chance to be the Player of the Match with a crucial 24 and two wickets. But exactly then, he bowled short ball after short ball and got smashed."

He continued:

"Bowling short at that pace is no use. Australians love short-pitched bowling and we fed them repeatedly. Harshit Rana bowls well when he comes over the wicket but gets smashed when he goes round the wicket. He took the first wicket out of the confidence he got with his knock. I thought after getting a second wicket, he got his confidence back. But after that he and the rest of the bowlers fed Mitchell Owen and Cooper Connolly. He bowled a terrible second spell. First spell he bowled very well."

Despite Rana's two-wicket spell, Australia chased down the target of 265 with two wickets to spare to take an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

"He played like a middle-order batter" - Kris Srikkanth

Kris Srikkanth further praised Harshit Rana for his batting exploits at a crucial time in the second ODI. The 23-year-old came into bat with India reeling at 223/7 in the 45th over and scored a quickfire 18-ball 24*.

His cameo helped India post a competitive 264 in their 50 overs on a tricky Adelaide surface.

"I'll be honest, he really batted well today. What I liked was the way he cut the ball. He played like a middle order batter, his shots. The partnership between him and Arshdeep Singh was very crucial. I thought the two of them got us to a winning position. India was supposed to be bowled out for 230, which would have been a complete collapse," said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

The 24* was Harshit Rana's highest score for India across formats in his 12th international outing.