I had the skills but Gautam bhai changed my mindset in KKR: Rana

'At the elite level, you require skills but more than skills, you require the heart to handle the pressure.'

Competence was not a problem but Harshit Rana, by his own admission, struggled with the confidence part before Gautam Gambhir entered the picture and forced him to face his "fears".

The 22-year-old rookie pacer is on cloud nine right now after being picked for next month's ODI series against Sri Lanka.

To announce his joy to the world, he posted a picture on Instagram in which he was seen lifting his equally jubilant father. But when it came to giving credit to those who shaped him, Rana was clear that 'Gauti Bhaiyya (Gambhir)' would always be 'above everyone else'.

"Delhi mein dil toot sakta hai, par humne kabhi hausla nahi haaraa (Delhi can break your heart but I never lost hope)," Rana said after learning about his maiden India call-up.

"I believed in working hard but whenever I used to get hurt after being overlooked in age-group teams, I would sit in my room and start sobbing. My father Pradeep never ever gave up hope," he told PTI.

The bowler from Delhi's South Extension, who endured a tough time at the junior level, often overlooked, had finally made it. And all it took for him to be in national reckoning was one stellar IPL season of 19 wickets in Kolkata Knight Riders' triumphant campaign earlier this year.

"If I have to name three people whom I am indebted to in this beautiful journey of mine, then it is my father for his efforts, my personal coach Amit Bhandari sir (former India and Delhi pacer) and above everyone else, Gauti bhaiyya (Gambhir)," Rana said.

Gambhir was the mentor of KKR this season before taking over as India coach from Rahul Dravid, following the country's T20 World Cup triumph in the West Indies. Rana said his senior state-mate has been a pillar of support ever since he came in contact with him.

"If my outlook towards the game has changed, a lot of it has got to do with Gauti bhaiyya's presence in the KKR dressing room and how he changed my mindset. At the elite level, you require skills but more than skills, you require the heart to handle the pressure.

"Gauti bhaiyya would always tell me 'Mere ko tere pe trust hai. Tu match jeetake aayega'. (I trust you, you can win the match)," Rana recalled one of his interactions with the firebrand former opener, who is known to speak his mind.

Rana had started on a bright note in 2022, when he played seven Ranji Trophy games for Delhi and got 28 wickets but since then, injuries prevented him from playing a lot of red-ball games.

However, in white-ball cricket, he has been phenomenal for Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, with 22 wickets in 14 games and 28 in 25 T20 matches.

Playing at the Eden Gardens in front of 60,000 people, he nailed those block-hole deliveries, wide yorkers and slow bouncers. So how has he managed to back his skills under pressure?

"If you ask about the pressure part, it is Gautam Gambhir's advice. He would say, 'what's the worst thing that will happen? You will get hit and we can lose the match. But if you don't face your fears, how will you overcome them?'

"There will always be a new day, new match and things will fall in place. That's what you train for," said the lanky player, who trained under Bhandari and Narinder Singh Negi in Delhi's Players' Academy.

"If you talk about my skill-set, then Bhandari sir and Negi sir have been my personal coaches for past two years," he said.

Bhandari, a Delhi stalwart, who played a few ODIs for India between 2000 to 2004, narrated an interesting story.

"I didn't know who this boy was. In fact, when he came to me, he had not played for KKR but had played Ranji Trophy. He only called me up and said, 'sir, can you train me?'," Bhandari, who is an assistant coach with Gujarat Titans, recalled.

"The first day he came, I didn't give him a new ball but an old ball and told him the areas (he needed to bowl) along with an instruction. Just bowl and don't look at me or come to me. If I feel, I will call you."

Bhandari was impressed by what he saw and decided to mentor the bowler.

"What I saw was a nice run-up but once he reached the crease, after load-up, everything needed a bit of work. The non-bowling hand, alignment and he was ready to work," he said.

Bhandari feels that Rana has the potential to do well at the international level.

"In Delhi, you always hear about corruption, groupism, nepotism. Now look at the bonafide Delhi greats. Most have, within two years of their Delhi debut, have played for India," he pointed out.

"Viru (Sehwag), Gauti (Gambhir), Ishant (Sharma), and Rishabh (Pant) all had talent and didn't hover around domestic cricket for long. If you are a talented Delhi cricketer, system can't stop you. And if you aren't, then even in 15 years, you won't make it," Bhandari said.