India, Jan. 12 -- Harshit Rana has spent the last year wearing two jerseys at once: India's, and the invisible one stitched from public doubt. Every time his name appeared on the teamsheet, the conversation moved around "why him?" and "why again?", with Gautam Gambhir dragged into the argument as much as the bowler himself.

The last few months have finally started to flip that script. Not because Rana has suddenly become flawless, but because the returns are no longer isolated. Wickets in clusters, spells that change the shape of a game, and a growing lower-order batting value, this is beginning to look less like persistence for persistence's sake, and more like a plan taking form.

Rana isn't the classic safe ODI pick. He's not built fo...