Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth has showered praise on Harshit Rana for his impressive spell in the third ODI against South Africa at Vizag. Rana returned figures of 0-44 in eight overs he bowled, including two maidens.

Meanwhile, Srikkanth has been one of the critics of Harshit Rana in the last few months but advised the Delhi pacer to reduce the number of loose deliveries.

Rana scalped four wickets in three matches against South Africa at an average of 44.75. Srikkanth said Rana didn’t have the rub of the green on his side as he bowled brilliantly.

“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.

Meanwhile, the 1983 World Cup player praised Arshdeep Singh for providing the early breakthrough. Singh took five wickets in the series and also dismissed Ryan Rickelton early in the third ODI at Vizag.

“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.”

The former aggressive batter said it would have been an interesting game if South Africa had posted 320 runs on the board.

“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).

India will next take on South Africa in a five-match T20I series against South Africa.