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Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar slammed Harshit Rana's critics after the young pacer delivered a match-winning spell with the ball in the third ODI against Australia in Sydney. The youngster was included in the Indian ODI and T20I squads for the ongoing Australian tour, drawing criticism from several former players and fans.
Yet, Rana delivered the goods in India's consolation win in Sydney with figures of 4/39 in 8.4 overs. His heroics helped India restrict Australia to a sub-par total of 236 in 46.4 overs.
Talking about Harshit Rana's performance in the series finale, Gavaskar told India Today (9:18):
"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 continued:
"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."Following Rana's brilliant spell, the Indian batters made light work of the target, completing the run chase in the 39th over with nine wickets in hand.
Harshit Rana finishes as the leading wicket-taker in the Australia-India ODI series
Harshit Rana silenced all his critics by finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the ODI series against Australia. The 23-year-old picked up six wickets in the three games at an average of under 21.
His four-wicket haul in Sydney aside, Rana also bagged two wickets in India's defeat in the second game at Adelaide. The youngster boasts an impressive record in his brief ODI career with 16 wickets in eight outings at an average of 20.75 and an economy of 5.82.
Rana is also likely to feature in the Indian XI in the upcoming five-match T20I series against Australia, starting in Canberra on Wednesday, October 29.
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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran
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