Harshit Rana, the 22-year-old right-arm fast bowler who has received his first-ever Test call for the country in the current African tour Five Test match series against Australia is expected to don the Indian jersey for the very first time in the first Test at Perth which has been scheduled to commence on Friday, November 22. In a news report published in Times of India on Tuesday (November 19), it was stated that Oz KKR IPL 2024 impressed Rana, and this led to Indian teams asking for the bowler, will feature in the first Test of the series.
In the last week, he practiced at the WACA Stadium in Perth and according to information received, Rana did well in the match simulation that is why he is very likely to be in the playing eleven.
“Harshit was very good in the match simulation at Perth and especially while he was bowling his bouncers. There is a good possibility of him making his India debut at Perth,’ the source said as quoted in TOI.
Rana has played 10 First Class matches so far and has taken a total of 43 wickets. He has scored a total of 469 runs apart from Bowling and has a record of 1 hundred and 2 fifties.
Also, it has come to light that Karnataka’s batter Devdutt Padikkal who has been instructed to remain in Australia as a standby will be included in India’s squad for the first match of the series. He will be taking the position of Shubman Gill who had a thumb injury and will bat at number 3.
“This appears to be the No. 3 spot he is likely to bat at now,” a source informed TOI.
The southpaw had made his Test debut for Team India against the English side in Dharamsala on the 7th of March, 2024, and made 65 runs in the first innings. The 24-year-old cricketer also participated in the two unofficial Tests for India A against Australia A before this year where he scored 36, 88, 26 and 1 respectively. The other youngsters like Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sai Sudharsan were not good enough because he had been there before, and he was well-versed with the conditions in Australia.
With Rohit Sharma being unavailable, Jasprit Bumrah will lead the Indian side during the match against Perth as the star fast bowler also assumes the role of captain. The last time Bumrah captained India in a Test match was in July of 2022 against the English side.
