Young pacer Harshit Rana has been recently selected for India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad, a move that has been both celebrated and questioned by cricketing experts. The tournament, which begins on September 9 in the UAE, will be a crucial test for the young fast bowler as he looks to establish himself in the senior team.
While some analyst and fans have raised concerns about his inclusion, pointing to his extremely ordinary performance in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL), Rana’s selection is a reflection of the selectors’ faith in his potential. This trust was also on display in a recent blind ranking video where Rana himself gave a candid and surprising assessment of his fellow bowlers, providing a glimpse into the mindset of a player on the cusp of a major tournament.
Harshit Rana’s humorous blind ranking ahead of the Asia Cup 2025
In a video that has gone viral, Rana was given the task of a blind ranking of Indian bowlers, a light-hearted exercise that revealed his profound respect for Kuldeep Yadav. Without seeing the names, Rana confidently placed Kuldeep at the top of his list, ahead of even the legendary Jasprit Bumrah, whom he placed at second place. ‘Kuldeep bhai, iska aapse kuch lunga, aapko No.1 bana diya hai,’ he said, in a playful jab at his senior, which translates to ‘Kuldeep brother, I want something from you for this, I have made you No. 1,’.
This humorous exchange belies a serious point: Rana’s recognition of Kuldeep’s crucial role in the team’s success. He acknowledged the wrist-spinner’s ‘vital cog’ status in the white-ball formats, highlighting his contributions to India’s T20 World Cup 2024 and Champions Trophy 2025 victories. The full ranking, which also included Arshdeep Singh (3rd), Axar Patel (4th), Prasidh Krishna (5th) and Varun Chakravarthy (6th), shows a young player who is not only confident in his own abilities but also acutely aware of the strengths of his teammates.
Here’s the video:
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Harshit’s performance in IPL 2025 and ongoing Delhi Premier League 2025
While Rana has been selected for India’s Asia Cup squad, his recent performance for the national team and in the ongoing Delhi Premier League has been a subject of intense debate. In IPL 2025 where he took 15 wickets in 13 matches with a high economy rate of 10.18. His only significant performance for India came as a concussion substitute against England earlier this year, where he took three wickets and played a crucial role in his side’s victory. This remains his sole T20I appearance. In the ongoing Delhi Premier League, where he is captaining North Delhi Strikers, his performance has been great if the comparison is IPL with eleven wickets and third most wicket taker so far in the tournament, with a focus on his aggressive on-field behavior, which even resulted in a 10% fine for an aggressive send-off to West Delhi Lions‘ batter Ayush Doseja.
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