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‘Perform Or I Will…’ - Harshit Rana’s Childhood Coach Reveals Gambhir’s Harsh Words To Youngster
Follow UsRana, in Sydney, took a sensational 4-fer to win India the game
After middling outings in each of the first two ODIs against Australia, Harshit Rana was expected to get left out to accommodate Kuldeep Yadav in the third game, but instead, it was Arshdeep Singh who got the axe.
That Harshit got the nod despite faring much worse than Arshdeep in the second game left many baffled, and the decision ended up putting up even more pressure on the youngster, who had to deliver in the dead rubber to justify his selection and hype.
But come the big day, the 23-year-old did just that as he took a mighty impressive 4-fer that downed the Kangaroos. Harshit finished with 4/39, and his spell was one of the biggest reasons for Team India registering an easy win to avoid a whitewash.
There’s been a lot of talk about how favouritism and being ‘Gambhir’s pet’ is the only reason Harshit is in the Indian team, but his childhood coach, Sharvan, revealed an untold story, narrating an incident where Gambhir, the head coach, gave Harshit an ultimatum: ‘perform or perish’.
"He called me and told me that he wanted to shut the outside noise with his performance. I just said, believe in yourself,” Sharvan said, reported Times of India.
“I know some cricketers say he is close to Gambhir. But Gambhir knows how to identify talent, and he backs them. He has backed a lot of cricketers, and they have done wonders for their team.
“He, in fact, scolded Harshit badly. He told him directly, ‘perform kar, warna bahar bitha dunga.’ He sends a clear message to whoever you are," added Sharvan.
Harshit’s childhood coach further tore into former India captain Kris Srikkanth, who has vocally and openly been one of the biggest critics of the 23-year-old.
"First Krishnamachari Srikkanth took the case of this kid. After retirements, cricketers have started their YouTube channels to earn, but please don’t scrutinise any kid who just started. They have the right to guide, scold, but please don’t say anything for your YouTube channel’s visibility," Sharvan said.
Harshit now has taken 16 wickets from his first eight ODIs.