Why this player is being selected again and again in Team India?Image Credit Source: PTI
Harshit rana selection issue: Since the announcement of Team India for the tour of Australia, all the discussions have been done with Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. The team going to Australia for ODI and T20 series has changed leadership, where Shubman has been made the captain of the ODI team in place of Rohit. But apart from these, the name of another player has been discussed, which is more on social media. There are more trolling and hate comments than the discussion. These players are fast bowler Harshit Rana, who has been selected for the tour of Australia and many people do not like this.
When Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar announced ODI and T20 squad for the tour of Australia on October 4, there were 7 players including Gill who are part of both the squads. Harshit Rana is also one of them, but while no questions are arising on the selection of other 6, Rana is on the target of everyone. The 23 -year -old fast bowler coming from Delhi is being accused of choosing due to ‘Favoriteism’.
There is currently no senior or dominant player in Team India, with whom Harshit Rana has played a lot of cricket. But the influential head coach of the team Gautam Gambhir definitely spent a season in Kolkata Knight Riders with this young player, where Kolkata won the IPL 2024 title as Gambhir was made and Rana played a special role in it. Only after this, Gambhir became the coach of Team India and after a few months, Harshit made his debut for Team India in all three formats.
Debut in all three formats, also in Champions Trophy
Rana made his Test debut on the tour of Australia in November 2024. Then made his T20 debut in January 2025 and also made her debut in ODI format after a week. Harshit’s performance in all these was fine. Even in the Champions Trophy, he was selected in place of Mohammad Siraj and got to play high-voltage matches against Pakistan, in which he also took 1 wicket for just 30 runs.
At the same time, he was part of the squad in the Asia Cup 2025 recently, but his performance in both the matches was not special. Overall, Harshit has played 2 Test matches so far, in which he has got only 4 wickets. At the same time, in 3 T20, 5 wickets have been taken with a bad economy of 10. But in 5 ODIs, he has taken 10 wickets with an average of 20 and an economy of less than 6.
Trolling on repeated selection
In such a situation, questions are being raised about being selected again on Australia tour. Gautam Gambhir is being accused that due to his attachment towards KKR, he is giving opportunities to Harshit again and again. Even a former Indian captain like Krishnamachari Srikanth taunted and said that if after Gill, if someone is confirmed in someone’s place, then he is the Harshit Rana and the reason for this is the head coach serious.
But are all these allegations correct? Is Harshit’s trolling correct? Are they really coming to the team thanks to Gambhir instead of their ability? There is definitely some truth in this fact that Harshit has a large impact of Gambhir in continuous entry into Team India. But this is not true, because a special goal is also seen in the selection of Harshit. Harshit’s international career has not started well yet, but this is not happening for the first time in cricket.
Also understand the real reason for selection
The most important thing in favor of Harshit is that he can contribute with the bat in the lower order along with bowling, which can prove to be important in any tournament. But what is most important in favor of Harshit is the ability to get his long stature, high speed and bounce. But all this is not being done for any bilateral ODI series, but the eyes are on the ODI World Cup after 2 years.
The World Cup 2027 is to be held in South Africa and long -stature fast bowlers have been successful on the pitch of South Africa. Teams like South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and England do not lack such bowlers but Team India looks backward on this front. This is the reason that Harshit Rana is being prepared from now on, so that he can prove to be important in that World Cup. Not only joyful, but along with this hope and goal, the famous Krishna is also returning to the ODI team again.