"That's where he is losing his rhythm" - Kris Srikkanth's massive claim on Harshit Rana after IND vs SA 2025 3rd ODI

Former Indian captain Kris Srikkanth was encouraged by Harshit Rana's bowling in the ODI series against South Africa. Despite being one of his staunchest critics a few months back, Srikkanth admitted that the young pacer bowled brilliantly in the series decider in Vizag.

However, the 1983 World Cup winner advised Harshit to cut down on the odd loose deliveries, following a series of good balls. Srikkanth also praised left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh for his excellent opening spell in the Vizag encounter.

"Harshit bowled brilliantly. He was unlucky not to take a wicket. The only issue with him is sometimes he bowls brilliantly and then bowls two bad balls. That's where he is losing his rhythm. He shouldn't overtry. He bowls a superb ball that comes into the right-hander and away from the left-hander. If he gets the control over his line and length, he can be a very useful bowler," said Srikkanth on his YouTube channel (13:00).

He continued:

"But most important is Arshdeep Singh. He always strikes in the first two overs. That's a very important thing. Rickleton looked scared to even face him. I was a harsh critic of Harshit Rana. I wasn't criticizing his bowling ability though, I was criticizing something else. But he has got the stuff to do well."

Arshdeep and Harshit ensured the Proteas did not get away in the powerplay with a score of only 25/1 after eight overs. The duo bowled three maidens between them in their 16 overs of bowling, helping India restrict South Africa to only 270.

"If they had scored 320, this would have been an interesting game" - Kris Srikkanth

Kris Srikkanth believes South Africa missed a golden opportunity to post a total of around 320 on a Vizag wicket that remained tricky in the second innings. Despite getting themselves into a dominant position at 168/2 in the 29th over, the visitors folded for only 270 inside 48 overs.

"South Africans missed a trick. The ball wasn't coming on even in the second innings. If they had scored 320, this would have been an interesting game. With 270, psychologically, they were gone," said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

After Arshdeep and Harshit's excellent opening bursts, Kuldeep Yadav and Prasidh Krishna wrecked South Africa's charge with four wickets each. Cut to the chase, and the Indian top three of Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Virat Kohli ensured the hosts reached the target comfortably in the 40th over.