"I want to play Harshit Rana" - Aakash Chopra on his Indian seam-bowling attack for AUS vs IND 2025 1st ODI

Former India player Aakash Chopra has picked Harshit Rana ahead of Prasidh Krishna in his Men in Blue playing XI for the first ODI against Australia. He highlighted that the Delhi seamer needs to be played if the selectors and team management see promise and potential in him.

The first ODI of the three-match series between India and Australia is scheduled to be played in Perth on Sunday, October 19. The visitors will likely include three frontline seamers in the playing XI on the usually bouncy and pacy surface.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener chose Harshit as the second seamer, highlighting that Mohammed Siraj is a virtual certainty in the XI.

"I will go with Mohammed Siraj. People have forgotten that he wasn't part of the Champions Trophy and Asia Cup teams. Mohammed Siraj needs to be there, and he deserves it. So he will definitely be in the XI. I want to play Harshit Rana. There was a toss-up between Prasidh Krisha and him," Chopra said (7:30). "Harshit Rana has been with the team for such a long time, and if the selectors and team management are seeing so much promise and potential in him, he should be played. These conditions will be good. He played in the Test match in Perth and did decently as well. He also bats a little," he added.

Harshit Rana has picked up 10 wickets at an economy rate of 5.69 in five ODIs. Prasidh Krishna has accounted for 29 dismissals at an economy rate of 5.60 in 17 ODIs.

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"He has played a handful of ODIs thus far, but why not more?" - Aakash Chopra on Arshdeep Singh ahead of AUS vs IND 2025 1st ODI

Arshdeep Singh has played nine ODIs thus far. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra chose Arshdeep Singh as the third frontline seamer in his Indian playing XI for the first ODI against Australia.

"After that, I want to play a left-arm seamer. I want Arshdeep Singh to get a chance. He has played a handful of ODIs thus far, but why not more? We should try and give him more opportunities because he is again a match-winner. In ODI cricket, if you are thinking about South Africa, you need to keep preparing more pacers because it's good to talk, but we don't have that big a pool of pacers," Chopra reasoned (8:00).

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the left-arm seamer needs to be played as India do not have a massive pool of pacers heading into the 2027 ODI World Cup.

"(Jasprit) Bumrah wasn't available, so you started searching whom to take. If Bumrah isn't available and (Mohammad) Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar aren't under consideration, who are you left with - Siraj, Prasidh, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and then over. So I would say play Arshdeep Singh for sure here," Chopra observed.

Arshdeep Singh has picked up 14 wickets at an economy rate of 5.17 in eight ODI innings. He has been hugely successful in T20Is, accounting for 101 scalps at an economy rate of 8.37 in 65 innings.

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Edited by Kartik Iyer