Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin slammed the critics of Harshit Rana by questioning them on whether they would heap praise on the young pacer should he deliver the goods. Several former players and fans have questioned Harshit's inclusion in the Indian ODI and T20I squads for the upcoming white-ball tour of Australia, starting on October 19.The 23-year-old has already played multiple games for India across formats despite debuting in international cricket only at the end of last year. Harshit was part of India's 2025 Champions Trophy-winning squad, picking up four wickets in the two matches he played.Talking about the unfair criticism laid on Harshit Rana on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said (13:35):"In Indian cricket, the positives are mostly spoken only about Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma or an MS Dhoni. But the criticisms are usually directed towards those who aren't big names. Like everyone is slamming Harshit Rana now. My question is will the same people who bash him now keep him on a high pedestal when he performs well? No, it won't happen."Harshit Rana has picked up 19 wickets in his 10 matches for India across formats at an average of 27.47."You can ask anyone in the KKR dressing room" - R Ashwin on Gautam GambhirRavichandran Ashwin praised Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir for standing by Harshit Rana and slamming his critics after the recent home Test series against the West Indies. Gambhir was particularly unimpressed by former captain Kris Srikkanth's harsh questioning of Harshit's consistent selection in the Indian squads."Gambhir defending Harshit Rana as a coach was absolutely right. Gambhir is renowned for this. You can ask anyone in the KKR dressing room, they'll always say, ' Gambhir will be up for the fight'. He'll ask the players to freely do anything on the field by saying I'll stand by your side. He's that kind of a person," said Ashwin (via the aforementioned source).Gambhir and Harshit worked with each other in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) setup in IPL 2024. The former was the Team Mentor, while the young seamer performed admirably, picking up 19 wickets in 13 games and helping KKR win their third IPL title.