Gambhir rips into Srikkanth, criticises fans for trolling Harshit Rana: ‘Shameful to target Rana for running a YouTube channel’

Gautam Gambhir tore into for chief selector, Kris Srikkanth, experts and social media trolls who have been claiming that all-rounder Harshit Rana was only picked in the squad for the ODI series in Australia due to his proximity to the India coach.

Srikkanth had claimed that the 23-year-old Rana, who also hails from Delhi, the same as Gambhir, is constantly getting picked in the Indian squads as he was a “yes man” to Gautam Gambhir.

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Hitting back at Srikkanth, experts and social media trolls for questioning Rana’s inclusion and insinuating claims of partiality, Gambhir said that it was “shameful” that a former India captain is targeting a youngster to run his YouTube channel.

Gambhir said that if you have to target someone, it has to be him, but not a young talent who has risen on the basis of his skills.

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“It’s shameful that someone wanting to run his YouTube channel is targeting a 23-year-old. If you want to target me, do it. I can handle it, but trolling a 23-year-old kid for YouTube views is shameful,” Gambhir said at the press conference after India secured a 2-0 Test series win over the West Indies in Delhi on Tuesday.

“His (Rana’s) father is not a selector. He has played cricket on his own merit. Don’t target these young boys,” he added.

Alleging that Rana is being picked due to Gambhir’s influence, Srikkanth recently said that the all-rounder doesn’t deserve a place in the ODI squad.

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“There is only one member, Harshit Rana…nobody knows why he is there in the team. Best is to be like Harshit Rana and be a constant yes man to Gambhir to be selected (in the side),” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.

Even R Ashwin, on his YouTube channel, had questioned Rana’s inclusion. While agreeing that Rana has a lot of talent, Ashwin said that he is getting picked based on one good delivery from the 2024 Indian Premier League final.

One of the reasons Rana constantly faces scrutiny or social media trolling is that he was a part of the 2024 IPL-winning Kolkata Knight Riders side that was mentored by Gambhir.