KKR mates comment on Harshit Rana’s debut post after IND vs ENG 2025 4th T20I

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi pacer Harshit Rana made his India debut in T20Is in the fourth match of the ongoing five-game series against England. The match was played on Friday, January 31, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. Rana's IPL teammates were quick to comment on his social media post after the match.

The 23-year-old pacer wasn’t initially named in the starting XI but replaced Shivam Dube in the second innings as a concussion substitute. Dube was struck on the helmet on the penultimate ball of India’s innings. Meanwhile, the hosts finished at 181/9, with Hardik Pandya (53) and Dube (53) leading the charge for them.

In the second innings, Harshit Rana made an impact with figures of 3/33 from his four overs, helping India secure a 15-run victory and an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series. After the match, Harshit took to Instagram to share a post with the caption:

“A debut to remember, thanks team can’t ask for a better start.”

His KKR teammates were quick to react, with Ramandeep Singh commenting:

“What a debut 👏🏼🔥.”

Meanwhile, his former KKR teammate Nitish Rana posted a lion emoji in the comments section.

KKR mates comment on Harshit Rana’s debut post (Image via Instagram-@harshit_rana_06)

Harshit made his Test debut during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), where he claimed four wickets in two matches. However, it was the hosts Australia who won the series 3-1.

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“It is not a like-for-like replacement” - Jos Buttler comments on Harshit Rana stepping in for Shivam Dube as a concussion substitute in 4th T20I

England captain Jos Buttler expressed dissatisfaction with India’s decision to use Harshit Rana as a concussion substitute for Shivam Dube, claiming it wasn’t a like-for-like replacement. During the post-match press conference, he shared his views and voiced his disagreement with the decision, saying [as quoted by ESPNcricinfo]:

"It is not a like-for-like replacement. We don't agree with that. Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25mph with the ball or Harshit has really improved his batting. It's part of the game and we really should have gone on to win the match, but we disagree with the decision. There was no consultation [with us]. That's something I was thinking as I came out to bat - who is Harshit on for? They said he is a concussion replacement, which I obviously disagreed with."

"It is not a like-for-like replacement. They said that the match referee had made the decision. We had no say in it or any part of it. But we'll ask Javagal [Srinath] some questions just to get some clarity around it. Like I said, it was not the whole reason why we did not win the match. We had our chances to win the game which we could have still taken. But I'd like to have a bit more clarity on that," he added.

India and England will clash in the fifth and final T20I on Sunday, February 2, in Mumbai.