Former World Cup winner changes his stance on Harshit Rana after four-fer: 'Yes, I criticized you a lot but...'

Indian fast bowler Harshit Rana finally turned heads on Saturday with a brilliant performance against Australia in the third ODI. The 23-year-old picked up four wickets, helping India bowl out Australia for just 236 runs, a total they chased comfortably with the help of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Rana had faced heavy criticism on social media and from some former players, including World Cup winner Krishnamachari Srikkanth, earlier in the series. The Delhi-born cricketer conceded a lot of runs in the first two games that India lost, following which questions about his place in the playing XI were raised.

Srikkanth takes a u-turn on Harshit Rana

However, Srikkanth has now changed his stance and praised Rana for his confident display after his four-wicket haul in Sydney. Rana contributed some valuable runs towards the backend of the Indian innings in the second ODI after India suffered a batting collapse. However, he, along with other bowlers, failed to restrict the Australian attack during the chase.

“So today Harshit Rana deserves all the praise. I am very happy for you. Yes, I criticized you a lot but at the end of the day, you’ve done very well. He has got his confidence back from the last match after scoring with the bat and from his first spell with the ball. The more he performs this way, his confidence will continue growing. Today he looked like a very confident bowler,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.

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“Harshit Rana bowled superbly. Taking four wickets in an ODI is a big achievement. My favourite was the wicket of Owen. It was a superb delivery and Rohit took a great catch. He bowled a terrific line and length. Last match he got clobbered at the death but this game, he bowled very well even at the death. He didn’t bowl short today and didn’t try too many slower ones,” he added.

Earlier, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir had defended Rana’s selection in all three formats, saying that the player has come to the side on his own merit and those criticising him “to run their YouTube channels” must feel ashamed.

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