India have announced a squad for the ODIs in Australia with an eye to the future. With Shubman Gill as the captain, there is a clutch of fringe names who are auditioning for bigger roles with an eye on the World Cup in 2027. While this should indicate long-term planning, Kris Srikkanth’s take-down on his Cheeky Cheeka YouTube channel has hijacked the narrative.
Srikkanth’s central accusation of “Best is to be like Harshit Rana and be a constant yes-man to Gambhir to be selected” cuts deep. He also argued that if Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy are in the mix, you can wave goodbye to the trophy and that India aren’t truly building for 2027. His remarks have sparked a fresh debate about merit versus favourites.
Speaking about India’s ODI squad for Australia, Srikkant said, “There is only one permanent member – Harshit Rana. Nobody knows why he is there in the team. You don’t pick some irrespective if they do well and take others even if they don’t. Best is to be like Harshit Rana and be a constant yes-man to Gambhir to be selected. You should start building towards the 2027 World Cup. But I feel they’ve not. If you pick Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy among the probabilities, then you can wave goodbye to the trophy.”
Why the debate
The selection debate is always loud before any marquee tour. The Australia tour doubles as a lab for India’s 2027 World Cup build-up. Gill’s elevation to ODI captain is a clear future move, but Srikkant fails to grasp the reasoning behind the selection of Rana and Reddy. The former Indian international has been on this beat for months, earlier slamming Harshit’s filmy gimmicks during IPL and warning that attitude and recent outputs must matter in selection.
Another optic can add strength to Srikkanth’s argument. Do these picks align with the form and the role clarity that India are trying to profess? Sirkkanth’s critique frames Harshit as a selection outlier whose case isn’t underwritten by sustained top-level returns.
The 1983 World Cup winner extended the logic to Nitish Reddy. He sees him as promising but questions whether India is hard-coding him into a role that will stand up in 2027 against elite teams. Srikkanth’s critique isn’t personal; it is based on structural logic. His take is clear – India should identify role-true skills and let consistent domestic or India evidence drive selections.
The Gautam Gambhir subplot escalates this from a debate to a cultural debate. Labeling Rana as Gambhir’s favourite Srikkanth points at a pattern that might land with some of the fans. The national selection cannot afford perceptions that proximity beats performance, especially during the transition phase of the team.