His first over went for 11 runs. His second was a maiden. In his third, Phil Salt tonked him for 26 runs. Harshit Rana's ODI debut had got off to an eventful start.
Rana promptly went out of the attack, but returned three overs later from the same end, with Salt run out in the interim.
In his second spell, the 6'2", powerfully built Rana began to have an effect with his hit-the-deck methods at speeds that often exceeded 140kph. Going wide of the crease and angling the ball in from round the wicket, he rushed Ben Duckett into a pull with a ball that climbed awkwardly to take the shoulder of the bat, and had his first ODI wicket when fellow debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal held onto a spectacular, over-the-shoulder catch running back from midwicket.
Then, off the last delivery of his comeback over, Rana went wide of the crease once again, this time from over the stumps, and banged in a short-of-length delivery that kicked up quickly towards Hary Brook's ribs, forcing the England batter to glove to KL Rahul behind the stumps. From 75 for 1 at the start of the over, England had slumped to 77 for 3.
India had picked Rana for the ODI series against England as the third specialist seamer in the absence of the injured Jasprit Bumrah. That decision from the selectors, which was taken in co-ordination with head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma, raised the question of how Rana, who had only played 15 List A matches at that stage, had leapfrogged Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar and Prasidh Krishna, who may have otherwise been considered lead contenders based on their experience as well as past performance.
Siraj's exclusion was particularly surprising; he had been India's leading ODI wicket-taker from the start of 2022 to the end of 2024, with his 71 strikes coming at an impressive average of 22.97. He had bowled well enough in this period to start ahead of Mohammed Shami during the 2023 World Cup. How had he lost out to someone like Rana, who, for all his attributes and impressive IPL performances with 2024 champions Kolkata Knight Riders, had so little experience even at domestic level?
Rohit explained at a media briefing in January, when the squad for England series and the provisional 15 for the Champions Trophy were announced, that Siraj had been "unfortunate" to miss out, and that, in the absence of Bumrah, the left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh had been preferred for his death-bowling skills; Shami, back in action after a long injury layoff, could take charge of Siraj's best phase and bowl with the new ball.
"We discussed it at length about it and we are only taking three seamers there because we wanted all the all-rounders with us," Rohit said. "It's an unfortunate thing that he [Siraj] has to miss out but we had no option but to get the guys who can perform a certain role. I personally feel that we have guys who can bowl with the new ball and be effective in the middle and then effective at the back end so you need to cover all three facets of the game."
As for Rana, Rohit admitted his selection for the England series was based on promise and potential. "We needed something different. He's [Rana] shown the potential that he's got something about him, so you back those things." The Ajit-Agarkar-led selection panel has been impressed by Rana since the Duleep Trophy, where the Delhi fast man bowled probing spells with the new ball and picked up four-wicket hauls in both his matches for India D. That was enough evidence for the selectors, who picked him in the India squad for the Australia tour, where Rana played the first two Tests, making an impressive debut in India's victory in Perth.
At 22, Rana is still learning his craft, but has the primary skillset and character to grow into someone who can change matches in short bursts, which he has shown glimpses of in all three formats. It's no surprise then that India picked Rana in their Champions Trophy squad when Bumrah was ruled out.
England's batters wouldn't have been surprised either, with Rana having challenged them consistently across the three ODIs. With the hard new ball, Rana can seam the ball at pace both ways. He also has a deceptive slower ball that he can use across phases, a lethal weapon if used smartly, as Bumrah has shown in all three formats. The middle overs, however, is where Rana really comes into his own with his ability to hit the deck and bowl a heavy ball that can at times kick up venomously, as Liam Livingstone discovered more than once through the series.
In the second over of his third spell in the first ODI in Nagpur, Rana kept challenging Livingstone's ego and the England player duly fell into the trap. With a nasty, accurate bouncer aimed at the head, Rana served notice to Livingstone, who ducked out of the way in the nick of time. Rana didn't waste the opportunity to say a few words to the batter, who gestured back that it was a good ball. Against the next ball, Livingstone slashed at thin air as Rana followed the 135-plus-kph bouncer with a 118kph away-going slower delivery. Then, seeing Livingstone charge down the pitch even before he had released the next ball, Rana shortened his length, and celebrated heartily as the bottom edge went straight to Rahul.
Having gone for 41 runs in three wicketless overs, Rana finished with 3 for 53 in seven, prising out three crucial wickets and tilting the match in India's favour. In the third ODI in Ahmedabad, Rana piled on England's misery, forcing both Jos Buttler and Brook to play on - classic dismissals of a hit-the-deck operator extracting uneven bounce from the surface.
The other skill that has helped Rana pip other contenders is his ability with the bat. He has a first-class century to his name and averages 34 in the format, and can hit the ball long as he showed in the Ahmedabad ODI, piercing the covers fluently off Mark Wood and following up wiht a mighty thwack over the long-on boundary against Gus Atkinson. Rana, then, extends an already deep India batting line-up. Given this, and his ability to bowl into the pitch and vary his pace, he becomes a viable option during the Champions Trophy, where India will play all their matches in Dubai, on pitches that were recently used for the ILT20.