Asia Cup 2025: Ashwin blasts ‘amateur’ Harshit Rana

It looks like former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was not impressed with Harshit Rana during India’s recent Asia Cup thriller against Sri Lanka.

Rana was at the receiving end from the Sri Lankan batters, who smashed him all around the park during is four overs spell.

He, playing only his second game of the tournament, was India’s most expensive bowler on the night, leaking 54 runs for just one wicket in his four overs.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said Rana lacked rhythm and bowled in a predictable pattern that Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka exploited.

“Playing just a few matches and then sitting out the others can really affect confidence and rhythm. But bowling one fast, one slow, one fast, one slow — that’s really amateurish cricket. He should learn from this,” Ashwin remarked.

Nissanka, who smashed 107 off 58 balls with seven fours and six sixes, made full use of Rana’s inconsistency. Despite Rana dismissing him in the final over, Sri Lanka managed to push the game into a Super Over before India scraped through for a dramatic win.

Rana’s performance stood in sharp contrast to his tidy debut earlier in the tournament against Oman, where he returned figures of 1 for 25. His poor economy rate of 13.50 against Sri Lanka has now cast doubts on his place in the XI, with Jasprit Bumrah expected to return for the final against Pakistan.