New Delhi: India are likely to prefer Arshdeep Singh over Harshit Rana in the team for their Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh on February 20 in Dubai.
India picked Rana for all the three ODIs against England, with decent returns but Singh has a better economy rate (5.17) over the right armer (.95 per over).
Singh played only one of the three matches against England as the team wanted to test Rana as a possible replacement for Jasprit Bumrah, who has been ruled out with a back injury.
Singh has an ability to swing the ball into the right-handers during Powerplay overs that could come in handy in Dubai, where India will play all their group games of the tournament.
“Harshit has improved by leaps and bounds in terms of reducing his weight and has become sharper in terms of speed. But if I had to choose one among the two as Mohammed Shami’s partner, it has to be Arshdeep as he can swing the ball both ways and is a left-armer. I would be a trifle surprised if Harshit starts ahead of Arshdeep,” former BCCI selector Devang Gandhi told PTI.
“Harshit hits deck and gets it to move a bit both ways after pitching along with those effective occasional heavy balls in the range of mid 140s. But when you have Arshdeep, he can swing the new ball and also use angles of the crease effectively when he comes round the wicket during death overs,” he added.
‘Experience in Singh’s favour’
Former India opener and ex-U19 team’s batting coach women’s team coach WV Raman believes Singh’s greater experience will tilt the balance in his favour when pitted with Rana.
“Arshdeep, due to his relative experience and the left arm being a different dimension, has an advantage. The Dubai track will be decent for the pacers,” Raman said to PTI.
“A bit more experience always helps in ICC events, which is a different ball game from bilaterals. In ICC event, you will play different opposition every day and accordingly an experienced bowler changes his plans.
Arshdeep Singh has an ability to swing the ball into the right-handers that could be key in picking him over Harshit Rana in India’s Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh on February 20. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
