Former India opener and ex-BCCI chief selector Gautam Gambhir came out strongly in support of young pacer Harshit Rana, who faced criticism for his selection in India’s upcoming white-ball tour of Australia. The 23-year-old right-arm seamer, who debuted internationally in November last year, was recently trolled on social media following his inclusion in the squad.
Speaking at a post-match press conference in Delhi after India’s 2-0 series whitewash over West Indies on October 14, Gambhir urged critics to target him instead of the young cricketer.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 23-𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓-𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 — 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙-𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍. 𝑺𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑰𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒆𝒕. 𝑨𝒏𝒚 𝒌𝒊𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 — 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔,” 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒉𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
“𝑫𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝑻𝒖𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍. 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕, 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 — 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Harshit Rana’s Rise Under Gambhir’s Mentorship
Harshit Rana’s selection criticism is partly linked to his association with Gambhir during Kolkata Knight Riders’ successful 2024 IPL campaign, where the former opener served as mentor. Rana has played two Tests, five ODIs, and three T20Is so far, picking up four, 10, and five wickets in the respective formats, though his economy rates have raised concerns.
India will kick off their tour of Australia with a three-match ODI series starting October 19 in Perth, followed by a five-match T20I series from October 29. Gambhir’s backing of Harshit Rana highlights the team management’s faith in nurturing young talent despite online criticism.
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