Will Harshit Rana make his debut in 3rd T20I? Photo: BCCI
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Harshit Rana is likely to make his India debut in 3rd T20I against Bangladesh
- Harshit has been part of the team since Zimbabwe tour
- Harshit plays for KKR in IPL
Harshit Rana has been part of Team India for three months but he is yet to make his debut. The right-arm pacer earned his maiden call-up for the first 2 T20Is against Zimbabwe after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Harshit earned his maiden ODI call-up after the Zimbabwe series and travelled to Sri Lanka. He made his T20I comeback for the Bangladesh series but is uncapped.
With India 2-0 ahead in the three-match series, will the home team make a change in the playing XI for the dead rubber? India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate seemingly confirmed a debut for Harshit in the third T20I and said that they are keen to give a game to him.
"Obviously, there's nice depth in the squad, and a lot of guys have got IPL experience. We try to expose as many guys as we can to international experience with what we've got coming up. So someone like Harshit Rana we are keen to give a game to. Obviously, Tilak (Varma) came into the squad a bit later," he said on the eve of the 3rd T20I.
India could either rest Arshdeep Singh or Mayank Yadav for the 3rd T20I. Arshdeep is an experienced campaigner while Mayank made his T20I debut in the first game of the series.
Why Harshit's debut will be bad news for KKR?
Harshit Rana's debut will be a piece of bad news for KKR because they won't be able to retain him in the uncapped category. Under the BCCI's rules, a franchise can retain an uncapped player for Rs 4 crore.
If Harshit becomes a capped player, KKR will have to pay him at least Rs 11 crore to retain his services. Harshit will be paid Rs 14 crore if he is KKR's second or fifth-choice retention. The first and fourth-choice retentions will be paid Rs 18 crore each.
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