NEW DELHI: Ahead of the third ODI against Australia in Sydney, Harshit Rana revealed that ODI cricket is the format he loves the most - and the India pacer seemed to justify his words with his best bowling figures so far in ODIs.

Rana's inclusion in the third ODI at the SCG had been questioned after his below-par performances in the first two matches, but he managed to silence his critics for now, returning figures of 4/39 in 8.4 overs - his best in eight ODIs.

Rana was impressive during his spell in which he generated good pace and bounce off a fresh SCG turf. His efforts helped India bowl out Australia for an underwhelming 236 in 46.4 overs

The right-arm pacer also joined former spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for the most wickets by an Indian after eight ODIs, with both having taken 16 wickets. Ajit Agarkar and Prasidh Krishna share the top spot with 19 wickets each, followed by Jasprit Bumrah with 17.

Speaking to Fox Cricket, Rana said that playing for India is a huge honour. He added that while he enjoys all formats of the game, ODIs hold a special significance for him.

"I love playing all formats. It's an honour to play for Team India, but personally, I love ODI cricket more," he said.

Talking about Australia innings, Washington Sundar (2/44) dismissed Matthew Short (30 off 41 balls) and Matt Renshaw (56 off 58 balls) after Mohammed Siraj (1/24) and Axar Patel (1/18) had shown the way by getting rid of openers Travis Head (29 runs) and Mitchell Marsh (41 runs) respectively.