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‘Jaane de mujhe…’: Rohit Sharma's instinct led to Harshit Rana's favourite wicket, reveals the pacer
Harshit Rana's anecdote highlights Rohit Sharma's leadership instincts in India's ODI win against Australia.
You can take away captaincy from a player, but you cannot take away the captain from inside the player. Harshit Rana’s post-match comments reveal the same thing about Rohit Sharma and his leadership instincts.
Notably, Harshit Rana played a crucial role in India’s win in the final ODI against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The right-arm pacer bowled a brilliant spell of 8.4 overs, in which he picked up four wickets while conceding only 39 runs. His wickets included those of Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, and Josh Hazlewood.
Most of those wickets came at crucial moments, restricting a developing partnership for Australia. When asked about his favourite wicket of the lost after the match, Rana picked the dismissal of Owen, and the reason he gave highlights Rohit’s captaincy instincts.
How Rohit foresaw Owen’s dismissal
The wicket of Owen fell in the 38th over, a phase of play when most teams do not place a fielder in the slip cordon. However, while Owen was batting, India had Rohit Sharma at first slip. Rana revealed the reason behind it, saying, “Before that ball, Shubman asked me, ‘Do you need a slip?’ I said no. Then Rohit Bhai said, ‘Jaane de na mujhe slip mein.’ And after the catch, he pointed at me and I said, ‘Thank you bhayia.’ ”
It was a back-of-a-length delivery from Rana that resulted in the demise of the Australian all-rounder. Owen tried to back away and fend at the ball, ending up edging to be taken comfortably by Rohit in slip. The instinct that events might unfold in that way shows the leader and captain within the veteran Indian player.
Later in the match, Rohit Sharma scored a brilliant century and stitched an unbeaten 168-run partnership to steer India to a nine-wicket win. Indian fans will hope that Rohit continues to guide the youngsters with his unparalleled wisdom and bat the way he has done in the series, at least till the 2027 ODI World Cup.
