As India prepare to tour Australia for a three‑match ODI series beginning October 19, much of the discourse has centred on the futures of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the ODI format leading up to the 2027 World Cup. Meanwhile, the attention has also been grabbed by the surprising inclusion of pacer Harshit Rana in the squad that has triggered a scathing reaction from former India selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth. Harshit Rana, who was recently part of the Asia Cup, has been added to the ODI squad as one of the four specialist pacers. Srikkanth also questioned the decision to leave out Sanju Samson from the backup wicket-keeper’s spot.

“By making such selections constantly, they are confusing the players themselves. Even we aren’t sure any day what the selection will be. Suddenly Yashasvi Jaiswal is there and then next minute, he won’t be there. There is only one permanent member – Harshit Rana. Nobody knows why he is there in the team. By chopping and changing all the time, they’ll dent the confidence of the players," Srikkanth said in a video on his YouTube channel.

“You don’t pick some players even if they do well and take others even if they don’t. 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’ve not. If you pick Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy among the probables, then you can wave goodbye to the trophy,” he added.

Rana made his debuts across formats between November 2024 and early 2025. But his performances have been inconsistent, especially in high-profile tournaments.

“Harshit Rana does too many filmy gimmicks. All these filmy reactions aren’t of any use, you’ve to actually bowl well. He does all these filmy reactions in the IPL as well. This is not a good attitude, it’s just showboating. He dives after the ball is already past him. Why dive after the goal has already been scored? Aggression is different but showboating so much at a young age is why he got punished today (1/54 against Sri Lanka in Asia Cup 2025),” mentioned Srikkanth.