Nitish Rana's display should earn him a place in the Indian squad, says Ricky Ponting

Mumbai Indians have in the recent produced absolute peach of players for the Indian squad, which includes the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya. Former Australian cricketer and Mumbai Indians coach Ricky Ponting believes that Mumbai Indians all-rounder Nitish Rana could be in line for an Indian team debut after his stellar season in the Indian Premier League.

The 32-year-old set the tournament ablaze with three half-centuries in the first six innings of the tournament to emerge as one of the surprises in the ongoing tenth edition of the IPL. The Australian believes that it is almost time for the left-hander’s debut for the country.

“He’s got a very good domestic record in one-day and four-day cricket. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in an Indian T20 squad, because that’s generally what they like to do, like with Hardik Pandya; he had a few outstanding performances in the IPL (and was picked).So I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in a T20 team or even a one-day team as well,” cricket.com.au quoted Ponting as saying.

As far as the five-day Test cricket is concerned, the Australian feels the need for improvement in the left-hander’s technique and skills before he gets an opportunity in the longest format of the game

“It probably might take him a little bit longer to develop his Test cricket – he’s got a few things to work on there, particularly against fast bowling … all young Indians have the same deficiencies but I can see him continuing to improve,” he said.

The former cricketer went on to appreciate the way the Indian batsman has sighted the ball to hit it away.

“Out of all the batsmen we had in that first year, Nitish Rana was the one I wanted the most. I loved the way he played, I loved his flair, and he hits the ball in slightly unusual areas as well,” cricket.com.au quoted Pointing as saying.

And the Australian also revealed that Nitish Rana missed out on a place in the Mumbai Indians squad earlier due to the surplus of batting present in the line-up.

“He was probably a little unlucky not to play a little bit earlier.But we had guys like (Rohit) Sharma, (Ambati) Rayudu, (Jos) Buttler, (Kieron) Pollard and these guys, and (Parthiv) Patel and Lendl Simmons opening so it was hard to fit him into the line-up when most of those guys were quite consistent.So he was unlucky,” the former Australian skipper said.

Rana is currently Mumbai Indians top run-scorer despite the presence of power hitters like Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard with 312 runs in 11 matches at an average of 34.66. The Mumbai Indians take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad later to remain at the top of the table for the rest of the season.