NEW DELHI: All-rounder Harshit Rana celebrated his maiden India call-up for the tour of Australia with a five-wicket spell followed by a half-century for Delhi in their Elite Group D Ranji Trophy match against Assam here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
After winning the toss and opting to bowl, Delhi bowled out Assam for 330 despite a 162-run knock from wicketkeeper-batsman Sumit Ghadigaonkar. Rana led Delhi’s bowling charts with his spell of 5 for 80 in 19.3 overs.
In reply, Delhi were struggling at 182 for 6 on day three, when Rana joined Pranav Rajuvanshi to launch the home team’s recovery.
Rana went on to score his half-century in 66 balls, including 4 fours and 2 sixes.
At the time this report was published, the pair had added 87 runs to take Delhi to 269 for 6.
Rana is among the three uncapped players selected for the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, which will be contested over five Tests for the first time. The other two uncapped players in India’s 18-member squad are Abhimanyu Easwaran and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
“The kind of competitive attitude I like to play cricket with on the field is very similar to Australia’s. It was my father’s dream that I play a Test against England sometime at Lord’s, but I personally like Australia more. I am proud of myself that my name came up for this tour,” the 22-year-old Rana had said after his five-wicket spell against Assam.