Vadodara, Jan. 12 -- Harshit Rana has been an underrated bowler. Not everyone is convinced he should be an automatic choice player in the India playing XI. The criticism against the pacer's inclusion has been that he can be expensive. However, the team management has a lot of faith in his potential. For, he has the knack of picking big wickets, especially with the older ball when the team is looking for breakthroughs. On Sunday in the opening ODI against New Zealand at Vadodara's Baroda Cricket Association International Stadium, the Delhi bowler again made a difference. India were having a tough time after electing to field with the NZ openers having built a 117-run partnership. With the Kiwis in the ascendancy, skipper Shubman Gill turned to Rana. He delivered, taking the wickets of both the openers within three overs to help India get back into the game. He first got Henry Nicholls for 62 and then Devon Conway for 56, finishing with 2/65 from his 10 overs. In 12 matches Rana now has 22 wickets with a best of 4/39 and an average of 26.18. It is not about the number of wickets but the ability to provide important breakthroughs. In Rana's debut ODI series against England, in February 2025, he made an immediate impression when he picked the wickets of Ben Duckett, Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone - not bad returns at all in your first game. In his second ODI, he had the scalp of Brook, and in the third he got both Brook and Jos Buttler. In his first ODI series in Australia in October, at the Adelaide Oval he again proved his value with the old ball, claiming the wickets of Travis Head (28) and Mathew Short (74). He followed it up with four wickets in Sydney with the old ball, including Alex Carey and Cooper Connolly. In the previous series against South Africa, Rana played an important role in the first ODI with three big scalps - Quinton De Kock, Ryan Rickleton and Dewald Brevis. He didn't have success in the last two games against South Africa, but was back among the wickets on Sunday. Rana was unlucky in his opening spell. He couldn't believe it when Kuldeep Yadav dropped a sitter at deep third off Nicholls in the sixth over. It is not easy when you know the next chance is unlikely to come soon. His first spell finished without success. But Rana kept his composure, putting the setback behind him to deliver the breakthroughs in his second spell by sending back the openers. The relief of the home team showed in their celebrations. Rana, 24, is still a work in progress but captain Gill's growing confidence in his ability to handle situations was visible in how he used him in different situations against NZ. In the slog overs, Gill bowled Rana unchanged from the 43rd over onwards. In a phase when top scorer Daryl Mitchell (84) was looking to explode, Rana bowled a spell of 4-0-31-0. In the 49th over he gave away just five runs. He was impressive with his variations - his deliveries ranged from below 110kph to 140kph plus - accurate with yorkers and following the batsmen when they looked to make room. Being a handy lower order batter too, Rana can be an asset as a bowling all-rounder....