• Source:JND
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IND vs Aus: Former India cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth has revealed that Harshit Rana was selected for India's ODI team for the series against Australia even though he hasn't done that well in all the formats, and that he was selected just because he says yes to everything that Gautam Gambhir tells him to, and has also criticised the team management. With Shubman Gill being the ODI skipper, a lot of fringe players are eyeing bigger roles to seal the spot for the 2027 World Cup.

Srikkanth has alleged that to get picked, one has to constantly say yes to Gambhir, and was indirectly talking about Rana. He said that by including both Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy in the side, India's hopes of winning the 2027 World Cup have been ruined.

His comments restarted the debate around merit vs favouritism. It isn't the first time that Gambhir has been slammed for backing Rana in all the formats.

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“There is only one permanent member, Harshit Rana. Nobody knows why he is on the team. You don’t pick some irrespective of whether they do well and take others even if they don’t," Srikkanth was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.

“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 haven’t. If you pick Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy among the probabilities, then you can wave goodbye to the trophy," he added.

The series against Australia will test the team before the 2027 World Cup. Gill becoming the ODI captain shows the team management is thinking about the future, and that's why Srikkanth slammed the selectors for backing Rana and Reddy.

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He has been voicing his opinions for a long time now and has slammed Rana's IPL performance and said that players should be selected based on recent performances.

Srikkanth also said the same thing about Reddy, by realising his potential, and also slammed the team management for giving him a role that held him against the best teams.