The right-arm pacer Harshit Rana has written a heartfelt message for his Father after earning his maiden ODI call-up for India.
Harshit Rana Dedicates Maiden ODI Callup to His Father
Harshit Rana has dedicated his maiden ODI call-up for India to his father by sharing an Instagram to share a special picture with his dad. He was seen lifting his father who was wearing an India jersey. He captioned the post, “This belongs to you. Love you, Dad.”
India is set to play a three-match T20I and ODI series against Sri Lanka on July 27. On this occasion, BCCI announced India’s squads for the tour where Harshit Rana has been named in the ODI squad.
Harshit Rana was part of the T20I squad which featured in India’s tour of Zimbabwe 2024, but didn’t get a chance to play. He will be featuring along with Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, and Mohammed Siraj.
Along with his father, Harshit also expressed gratitude to former KKR mentor and current India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir for shaping his career. “If I have to name three people whom I am indebted to in this beautiful journey of mine, then it is my father, for his efforts, my personal coach Amit Bhandari sir (former India and Delhi pacer) and above everyone else, Gauti bhaiyya (Gautam Gambhir),” told Rana.
“If my outlook towards the game has changed, a lot of it has got to do with Gauti bhaiyya’s presence in the KKR dressing room and how he changed my mindset. At the elite level, you require skills but more than skills you require the heart to handle the pressure. Gauti bhaiyya would always tell me ‘Mere ko tere pe trust hai. Tu match jeetake aayega’. (I trust you, you can win the match),” he added.
The Sri Lanka tour will be the first assignment for Gautam Gambhir as India’s head coach. Under his guidance, KKR won the IPL 2024 title and Harshit Rana was among the key players of the team. Harshit Rana has picked 13 wickets in 19 games for the franchise this season.
The Sri Lanka tour will start with the T20I leg starting on July 27 at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium while the ODI series will start on August 02.
India ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.
