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Former India all-rounder Madan Lal has backed young pacer Harshit Rana to focus on his primary role, that is to take wickets.
India are currently trailing 1-0 in the five-match T20I series after losing the previous game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Rana, who was promoted up the batting order when India were struggling at 49/5, showed great maturity to score 35 off 33 balls, stitching a 56-run stand with Abhishek Sharma to stabilise the innings. Madan Lal said the youngster's main task remains to deliver breakthroughs with the ball. "I don't know, Harshit Rana's job is to get wickets. He's a bowling all-rounder. If he gets 30-40 runs, very good, but his job is to break through and give a good start to the team. Getting runs is a bonus," the 1983 World Cup-winning cricketer told ANI. On India experimenting with batting positions, he added, "Experimentation, you know, it's T20 cricket. Everything is very flexible. You can send anybody at number three or four. I've seen a number of times the best batter batting down the order. I've seen Sanju Samson batting at number six or seven. It depends on the situation of the game. If it clicks, very good. If it doesn't, it backfires." On Arshdeep Singh, who played a vital role in India's T20 World Cup-winning campaign in 2024, has not featured regularly since. When asked if the left-arm pacer should be given a chance in the series, Madan Lal said it was up to the team management. "I don't know about that, it's a team-management's decision but T20 is a game where they have to see they're playing most of the all-rounders. Australian wickets are totally different from India, but Arshdeep has class. He's a very good bowler, gets wickets early on, and bowls the death overs very well. It depends on the management whether they will fit him or not," he said. India was bundled for 125 at MCG, in reply, Australia captain Mitchell Marsh engineered a rollicking 46(26) to gun down the target, clinch a four-wicket win and take a 1-0 lead in the five match series. (ANI)
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