Harshit Rana, the promising pace bowler, played all three ODIs in the recently concluded three-match series against England. For a moment, just scratch the surface, and you will notice that the think tank picked him for all the three games as they were unsure of Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness for the Champions Trophy. As it happened, the Indian pace spearhead was ruled out of the tournament. So, the onus now is now Mohammed Shami to lead the pace bowling stocks, with Harshit, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya for support.
Over a period of time, we have seen enough of Hardik and Shami’s skill sets and their impressive performances. But what about Harshit and Arshdeep? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Here’s a lowdown on the two bowlers.
Harshit: The pace bowler had played only 14 List-A games before his ODI debut. So, those three matches would have helped the pacer to understand the nuances of the 50-over format to some extent. So, how did he go about bowling in that series? On rather expected lines, it was more of a mixed bag for the inexperienced bowler. His hit-the-deck skills, a burst of pace, snapping of the wrist and the ability to force the batters into making mistakes helped him to pick up a haul of six wickets. In fact, he ended up as the second-highest wicket-taker in the series.
However, on the flip side, his economy rate of 6.95 provided enough evidence of his lack of control and perhaps bowling smarts. Harshit also bagged most or all of his wickets in his later spells. So, if India are going to employ his services, then he needs to be used in the middle overs as an enforcer.
Arshdeep: The left-arm pace bowler has already taken 99 wickets in the shortest format for the country. But he too is relatively inexperienced as far as the 50-over version of the game is concerned. The keynotes of his bowling are generating swing with the new and old ball. Incidentally, on occasions, he generates late swing with the new ball. Arshdeep is also a tall man. It is true that he may not have the hit-the-deck skills of Rana, but he does extract some bounce.
Even in the just concluded T20I and ODI rubbers versus England, he showcased this particular trait and snaffled quite a few wickets by bowling short of a length. Arshdeep’s skills are also supplemented by the left-arm angle. Having played more internationals than Harshit, he also seems to have developed the required fast-bowling mindset.
Of the two seamers, Arshdeep is more of an all-round bowler and he can be used in different phases of the game. Most likely, he would be Shami’s pace colleague with the new ball in the upcoming Champions Trophy. With Shami still not looking at his absolute best, there is a small chance of both Arshdeep and Harshit playing in a game or two. In such a scenario, there would be tremendous pressure on the pace duo. Rohit Sharma, the skipper, then has to act as the guiding light for the pace pair.