Shubman Gill has replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain of India in ODIs ahead of the upcoming Australia series.
Naturally, the removal of one of the most succesful white-ball captains, who won two ICC trophies within 9 months (T20 World Cup in June 2024 and Champions Trophy in March 2025), made headlines.
Shubman Gill was also appointed the Test captain earlier this summer, and made the T20 vice captain ahead of the Asia Cup. However, according to former Indian cricketer, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, it is not Gill who has the permanent support of India’s Head Coach, Gautam Gambhir, but another player altogether.
Srikkanth questions the selection of Harshit Rana
Harshit Rana has regularly been a part of the Indian squad across formats ever since Gautam Gambhir took over as Head Coach. He has, on occasions, justified his selection, but him making the cut in the ODI squad as other names like Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakaravarthy sit out, has not sit right with some.
For instance, Kris Srikkanth said that Rana is “permanent” in the Indian squad for being Gambhir’s favorite.
“Harshit Rana is a permanent because he is Gautam Gambhir’s favourite. He is always a certainty and the first name on the team sheet after Shubman Gill,“
So far, the KKR player has featured in 5 ODIs, in which he went for 218 runs, but also picked 10 wickets. Whether he finds a spot in the playing XI against Australia remains to be seen.
Srikkanth not impressed with Nitish Reddy
Notably, Harshit Rana was not the only player whose selection was questioned by the 1983 World Cup winner. Srikkanth also raised doubts over Nitish Kumar Reddy.
“Where did Nitish Kumar Reddy come from? If you ask them, they’ll say he’s Hardik Pandya’s replacement. But the actual replacement for Hardik is Ravindra Jadeja, not Reddy,“
He further reckoned, “Reddy will get clobbered in Australia in ODIs. If you’re picking him as an all-rounder, it’s not fair. He’s just a batsman who can bowl a bit.“
Nitish Kumar Reddy is yet to debut for India in ODIs as of this writing.
