Harshit Rana credits Gautam Gambhir for boosting his confidence during KKR

“I believed in hard work but whenever I used to get injured after being neglected in age groups, I would sit in my room and start crying,” Rana told PTI after the India squad was announced. “Father Pradeep never gave up hope.

“If my opinion about the game has changed, a lot has to do with Gauti of bhaiyya being in the KKR dressing room and how it changed my mind. At the elite level, you need skills, but more than skills you need the heart to handle pressure.

“Gathi bhaiyya he would always tell me ‘Mere ko tere pe trust hai. Tu match jeetake aayega’. [I trust you, you can win the match].”

Rana had a brilliant 2022-23 first-class season with Delhi, taking 21 wickets in five Ranji Trophy matches, but injuries prevented him from playing much red-ball cricket. With the white ball, however, he has been superb for Delhi: 22 wickets in 14 Vijay Hazare Trophy matches, and 28 in 25 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s.

“If my opinion about the game has changed, a lot has to do with Gauti of bhaiyya being in the KKR dressing room and how it changed my mind. At the elite level, you need skills, but more than skills you need the heart to handle pressure.”

Harshit Rana

“If you ask about the pressure part, it’s Gautam Gambhir’s advice,” Rana said. “He was saying, ‘what’s the worst that’s going to happen? You’re going to get beat and we lose the game. But if you don’t face your fear, how are you going to overcome it?’

“[I learnt] there will always be a new day, a new game and things will fall into place. That’s what you train for.”

Earlier in his IPL career, Rana trained under Bhandari and Narinder Singh Negi at Delhi’s Players’ Academy. “If you talk about skill setting, then Bhandari sir and Negi were my coaches for the last two years,” said Rana.

Bhandari, the Delhi batsman who played two ODIs for India between 2000 and 2004 and is now the assistant coach at Gujarat Titans, spoke to PTI about the time he spent with Rana. “I didn’t know who this boy was,” said Bhandari. “Actually, when he came to me, he was not playing for KKR but he was playing in the Ranji Trophy. He just called me and said, sir, can you train me?”

“The first day he arrived, I didn’t give him a new ball but an old ball and I told him the places [he needed to bowl] with [added] discipline. Just a bowl, don’t look at me or come to me. When I hear [the need]I will call you.”

Bhandari was so impressed that he started working with Rana. “What I saw was a good run-up but when he got to the crease, after loading, everything needed a bit of work. The off-bowling hand, the alignment… And he was ready to go.”

Rana will hope it all works out when he gets his India cap in Sri Lanka. The tour – also Gambhir’s first as India coach – begins with three T20Is from July 27, before the ODIs begin on August 2.

Edited PTI copy