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India pacer Harshit Rana shrugged off his horror over to Phil Salt during the Nagpur ODI against England on Thursday, February 6. Harshit was amongst the 2 debutants India fielded in the first ODI of the series and his first 3 overs were filled with drama. The Delhi pacer conceded 11 in his first over, before bowling a maiden. The third over saw him being hit all around the ground by Salt.
The pacer conceded 3 sixes and 2 boundaries and his figures read 37 runs in 3 overs at that point. However, Harshit bounced back in fine fashion as he kept sticking to his preferred lengths and dismissed Ben Duckett and Harry Brook in the same over to swing the game in India's favour. Harshit finished off a fine day's job by dismissing Liam Livingstone and had figures of 3 for 53 in his 7 overs. India ended up winning the match by 4 wickets.
1st ODI in Nagpur: Highlights
Speaking at the press conference, Harshit said he was unfazed by the onslaught from Salt and his focus was on finding his own length.
"Look, cricket is a game of ups and downs. He hit me for runs, but my focus was on my own lengths. I just wanted to concentrate on where I needed to bowl, and later on, I got the rewards for it," said
Harshit said that the approach in both spells for him remained the same and he wasn't aiming for anything particular.
"My approach was the same in both spells. I was sticking to the same lengths. There wasn't anything particularly different that I did because my aim remains the sameâI try to hit good areas, and from there, I get my rewards. And that's what happened in the second spell," said Harshit.
'Don't pay attention to outside noise'
Harshit was asked how he had been able to manage the pressure of representing India in all formats of the game. The pacer said that the outside noise doesn't affect him and his focus is delivering for the country.
"Personally, my belief is that people will always talk, but my job is to focus on my game. Whether I play well or badly, it doesn't affect me. My only focus is to deliver for my country, no matter what. So, I don't pay attention to outside noise," said Harshit.
India and England will play in the second ODI on Sunday, February 9.
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