{"id":10480,"date":"2026-01-11T20:54:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=678613"},"modified":"2026-01-11T20:54:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:24:56","slug":"why-did-india-send-harshit-rana-to-face-jamiesons-hat-trick-instead-of-washington-sundar-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/cricket\/why-did-india-send-harshit-rana-to-face-jamiesons-hat-trick-instead-of-washington-sundar-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Why did India send Harshit Rana to face Jamieson\u2019s hat-trick instead of Washington Sundar? Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

India\u2019s decision to send Harshit Rana<\/strong> to the crease to face Kyle Jamieson<\/strong>\u2019s hat-trick ball, instead of all-rounder Washington Sundar<\/strong>, raised eyebrows during the tense chase in the first ODI against New Zealand. However, the move was driven more by fitness concerns than tactical experimentation.<\/p>\n

The situation unfolded after Jamieson produced a fiery spell, dismissing Ravindra Jadeja and Shreyas Iyer in quick succession and reducing India from 234\/2 to 242\/5. With Jamieson on a hat-trick and the pressure mounting, India chose not to risk Sundar, who was carrying an injury concern.<\/p>\n

Was Washington Sundar injured?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Yes, Washington Sundar was dealing with a fitness issue at the time. Initial reports suggested that Sundar had suffered a side strain<\/strong>, an injury that can be serious for an all-rounder and, in severe cases, rule a player out for three to four months<\/strong>. This immediately raised doubts over whether he should be exposed to a high-risk situation against a bowler on a hat-trick.<\/p>\n

Later, during the live broadcast, veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle<\/strong> provided a crucial update. He informed viewers that Sundar had actually sprained his back while bowling<\/strong>, and that the Indian medical team was closely monitoring his condition. Bhogle added that it was uncertain whether Sundar would even come out to bat<\/strong> in the remainder of the innings.<\/p>\n

Why Harshit Rana was sent instead<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Given the uncertainty around Sundar\u2019s fitness, India opted to shield him from immediate danger. Sending Harshit Rana served two purposes. First, it avoided aggravating Sundar\u2019s injury at a critical moment of the match. Second, it allowed India to keep Sundar in reserve in case his batting was required later, especially if the chase went deep.<\/p>\n

While Rana is primarily a bowler and not known for his batting, the decision reflected a risk-management call<\/strong> rather than a reflection of batting confidence. With KL Rahul still at the crease, India appeared willing to sacrifice a wicket rather than risk losing Sundar to a long-term injury.<\/p>\n

A call driven by caution<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In high-pressure moments, such decisions often look unusual on the surface. In this case, India\u2019s choice to send Harshit Rana instead of Washington Sundar was rooted in medical caution<\/strong>, not tactical bravado. With Sundar\u2019s back injury under assessment and his availability uncertain, the team management prioritised player health over short-term match-ups, even as Jamieson threatened to turn the game on its head.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

India\u2019s decision to send Harshit Rana to the crease to face Kyle Jamieson\u2019s hat-trick ball, instead of all-rounder Washington Sundar,\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":32962,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}