"Who else?" - Aakash Chopra on Harshit Rana's repeated selections amid AUS vs IND 2025 ODIs

Former India player Aakash Chopra has opined that Harshit Rana is rightly being given opportunities across formats. He pointed out that India do not have a plethora of all-format seam-bowling options at their disposal.

Harshit's selection in India's ODI and T20I squads for the ongoing white-ball tour of Australia drew criticism on social media and from a few experts. The Delhi pacer went wicketless while conceding 27 runs in four overs in India's seven-wicket loss via the DLS method in the first ODI in Perth on Sunday, October 19.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener was asked about the constant hate directed towards Harshit, considering he has been picked because of the coaching team's faith in his potential.

"It will happen. Let's make a long list of fast bowlers who are close to the Indian team - (Mohammed) Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana at the moment, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep. Who else? Mohammad Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are not there," Chopra responded.

We have forgotten Umran Malik. Khaleel (Ahmed) can come, but he is not your Test kind of bowler. Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav, T Natarajan - whose name should I take? When you see this list, it's not like you have a dozen bowlers standing ready. You don't have that many. That's why the team feels that they should back Harshit Rana if he has that game," he added.

Harshit Rana has picked up four wickets at an average of 50.75 in two Tests. He has accounted for 10 dismissals at an economy rate of 5.80 in six ODIs and five scalps at an economy rate of 10.18 in three T20Is.

---

"Virat Kohli also backed someone" - Aakash Chopra on Shubman Gill, Gautam Gambhir, and the Indian team management backing Harshit Rana

Harshit Rana has played for the Kolkata Knight Riders under Gautam Gambhir's mentorship. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that past captains like Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli also backed a few players, who eventually became match-winners.

"If someone has played more in front of a coach, captain or selector, they see more potential in him and want to back him. Sourav Ganguly also backed some players. Eventually some of them became the legends of the game. Similarly, Dhoni backed many players. They became legends of the game. Virat Kohli also backed someone. Now Shubman Gill will also back someone," he said (7:20).

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that hate cannot be directed at Harshit Rana as he has no role in his selection.

"Let's not get carried away yet. He doesn't deserve the hate. It's not his mistake. If you have to give hate, give it to someone else, and not to him because he is not asking for him to be selected. You select him and he comes and plays. He tries to win the match, and whether he is able to do that or not is a separate issue," Chopra observed.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra noted that Harshit Rana hasn't performed poorly either. While acknowledging that one can ask anyone to improve, the analyst added that hate is unnecessary.