Gambhir has been vilified for showing favouritism in India’s dressing room.
India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir has slammed the critics for trolling Harshit Rana for his selection across formats in the recent few series. Gambhir has been vilified for showing favouritism in India’s dressing room and selecting Rana despite several other options in the bowling department.
For the unversed, former India player Krishnamachari Srikkanth took a jibe at the management, especially the head coach, for including Rana, exclaiming he is the only permanent member in the team. Following India’s seven-wicket win against the West Indies, Gambhir attended the press conference, where he was aggressive with his words while defending the fast bowler.
“Look, it’s a little shameful, and I will be very honest with you. If you are criticising 23-year-olds to run your YouTube channel, it is unfair. His father is not an ex-chairman, ex-cricketer or an NRI. He has played cricket on his own merit, and he will continue to do so. Targeting individuals is not fair. If you say horrible things about a 23-year-old on social media, what does that do to his mindset?”
While Gambhir has rightly called out Srikkanth and all other trolls, he undoubtedly has a liking towards Harshit’s skill sets, which ensures he is around the setup in all the formats. He made his Test debut in Australia based on just 10 FC matches and a big IPL season with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and his selection for the 2025 Champions Trophy over Mohammed Siraj was another incident that raised eyebrows.
It’s understandable why Gambhir has always rated Harshit Rana highly, for the speedster brings certain attributes that are hard to replicate. He is among those specialists who can seam the ball both ways at pace and hit the deck hard with a heavy ball in the middle overs.
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His balls get extra zip off the surface and hurry the batters enough to trouble even the best of them. That makes his short balls more effective, and he also has a deceptive off-pace delivery, which he has used to a great effect lately.
When Siraj was omitted from India’s Champions Trophy squad, Rana’s middle and death-over skills, which could have been more effective on sluggish UAE surfaces, were considered. Similarly, his fast-track to the Test format was based on his ability to generate kick off the surfaces, which were treacherous to bat on Down Under anyway.
Another notable aspect is his consistent wicket-taking ability, even if Harshit Rana tends to be expensive at times, something reflected in his ODI and T20I averages of 20.70 and 22.40, respectively, early in his career. Sure, his continued presence, even when he doesn’t feature regularly in the XI, may give an impression of favouritism – especially with other options available – but the management clearly values his skill set and has its reasons to back him.
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