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‘It was not his fault’ – Kevin Pietersen supports Harshit Rana and lauds him for his bowling during 4th T20I

Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen backs Indian pacer Harshit Rana amidst massive controversy after the fourth T20I match in Pune on Friday

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Harshit Rana gets backing from Kevin Pietersen

Harshit Rana Photograph: (X)

Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen has thrown his support behind Harshit Rana after the fourth T20I in Pune. The 23-year-old was draughted into the playing XI to make his T20I debut for Shivam Dube as a concussion substitute. Rana picked up three wickets for 33 runs from his four overs to help India win by 15 runs and take a 3-1 lead in the series. 

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Pietersen, speaking on Star Sports, said that it wasn’t Harshit Rana’s fault that he was sent in as a concussion sub. The former England star said, “For his cricket, he was outstanding and it was not his fault that he was the one who ended up where he went to. Those are not the decisions that he makes. It’s just him putting his hand up and saying, ‘Hey, I’ll replace Shivam Dube. Can I do it?’. Yes, you can; no, you can't; yes, you can; he got it. He went there and bowled his heart out and he bowled India to a victory.”

The 43-year-old said “Harshit Rana’s performance was great. I said that now on commentary, just finishing off. I thought that he gets his length straight into the hat for a full game on Sunday in Mumbai, the Wankhede Stadium."

‘The batting wasn’t smart,' Kevin Pietersen reveals after England’s loss 

The former England skipper said, “So, I am not going to one-second say that his performance was poor. I thought that he delivered his skill excellently. I thought that he was brilliant in the way he assessed a couple of the batters. The way that he assesses the conditions. He went out wide on a couple of occasions. So, yeah, he was brilliant.”

Speaking about England’s batting, Pietersen said, “The batting was not smart. It wasn’t clever and I think they’ve lost the game wholeheartedly because of the decision that was made. I think Harshit Rana was actually a nice bowler to face on that wicket. He really was.”

“They put themselves under tremendous pressure because they got out to the spinners. And the shot selection for Brook there, a guy who has experience now, test double hundreds, plays a lot of cricket around the world. Yes, he was under pressure and he came and he got his fifty but you got to try and close the game out there,” said England’s former batting great. 

Kevin Pietersen Harshit Rana
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