Harshit Rana, the 22-year-old pacer, made a strong return to competitive cricket on Saturday, taking four wickets in Delhi’s Ranji Trophy opener against Assam. Rana, who had not played a competitive game for over a month, showed no signs of rust as he struck twice in his opening spell and picked up two more wickets throughout the day.
Assam began their innings cautiously, but Rana’s early burst put them on the back foot. He dismissed Subham Mandal, Abhishek Thakuri, and Rishav Das in quick succession, leaving Assam reeling at 59 for four. However, wicketkeeper-batsman Sumit Ghadigaonkar played a defiant knock, scoring an unbeaten 120 to help Assam recover.
Ghadigaonkar and Sibsankar Roy put on a 164-run partnership for the fifth wicket, frustrating the Delhi bowlers. Ghadigaonkar reached his century with a boundary off Rana, who had earlier dismissed him twice in the innings.
Despite Rana’s efforts, Assam managed to reach 264 for six at stumps, thanks largely to Ghadigaonkar’s heroics. The 32-year-old Mumbai-born batsman showed his class with a well-paced innings that included six fours and two sixes.
Rana’s performance was a timely reminder of his quality ahead of India’s upcoming Test series against Australia. The pacer was named in India’s Test squad on Friday night and will be looking to make an impact in the five-match series.
