Duleep Trophy Quarter-finals: Central Zone, North Zone Dictate Terms On Day 2

Having given ample manifestation of his talent, Harshit Rana on Thursday hoped the performance will give wings to his journey as an all-rounder. The 21-year-old Delhiite cracked his maiden first-class hundred, an unbeaten 86-ball 126, and later picked up a wicket to give North Zone command over North East Zone in the Duleep Trophy quarterfinal. North Zone made a mammoth 540 for 8 declared and then reduced NE Zone to 65 for 3 to take complete control of the match.

"Yes! It is my natural game. I have played the whole Ranji season (2022-23) like that. I keep focus on my game. It is not to say that the match situation does not matter but my game plan is to go for my shots if the ball is in my hitting area. My coaches from the club level have always told me that I can bat," Rana said after the second day's play.

However, Harshit's primary suit remains bowling and he can crank up pace in excess of 140 kmph as he had often shown while playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Harshit said the tutelage of KKR bowling coaches Bharat Arun and Omkar Salvi has benefitted him immensely.

"I have benefitted a lot from the coaching of (Bharat) Arun sir and (Omkar) Salvi sir. They always give me a lot of advice, not just about cricket but about life as well. They treat me as their son.

"Arun sir has helped me a lot to handle the pressure of the IPL. He told me to focus on your strength and bowl freely, back myself and stick to the plans. It has worked well for me in all formats. Their advice on adjusting lengths as per the formats (red ball and white ball) has been very valuable," he said.

Central In Driver's Seat After Taking 124-run Lead

After a shabby batting effort, Central Zone came roaring back into the match bowling out East Zone