Sunil Gavaskar's Fiery Reminder To Kris Srikkanth Over Harshit Rana's Pre-Series Criticism

Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar was delighted to see Harshit Rana prove his doubters wrong with a four-wicket haul in the third ODI against Australia in Sydney. Gavaskar was well aware of the kind of comments that were made against Harshit when he was picked in the India squad for the ODI series. His former teammate, Kris Srikkanth, made some unexpected remarks on Harshit's selection, saying his presence in the team was down to the KKR connections with head coach Gautam Gambhir.

Responding to Srikkanth's comments, especially after Harshit's scintillating Sydney show, Gavaskar said criticism before a player has even had the opportunity to perform is baffling.

"I am so happy to see Harshit Rana getting those four wickets because he has been under fire. That is a little bit hard to understand because at the end of the day, this is our team. And by all means, criticize after but not before. Because by criticizing anybody before, any player, you are actually demoralizing that player," Gavaskar said on India Today.

"Once the series is over, you can by all means ask why he was picked because then you also have the benefit of hindsight. But once the team is selected, we should all absolutely 100% back the team and want it to win. Because at the end of the day, it is our team, it is India's team."

Srikkanth jumped the gun as he said that Harshit was named in India's ODI squad for the three-match series against Australia for being a constant 'yes-man' to Gambhir.

"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. 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," he had said on his YouTube channel. "If you pick Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy among the probabilities, then you can wave goodbye to the trophy."

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