On Saturday, October 4, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named India’s 15-member ODI squad and 16 men T20I squad for the upcoming white-ball tour of Australia. While the squad announcement had some surprise selections, it also saw BCCI make some shocking decision, one of them being Rohit Sharma axed from ODI captaincy.
Replacing Rohit Sharma at helm, Shubman Gill was named the skipper whereas Shreyas Iyer took the deputy role. Moreover, all-rounder Hardik Pandya was snubbed of a place from the white-ball squads after he sustained an injury in the Asia Cup 2025, there were a few shocking inclusions which have grabbed the eyeballs.
Harshit Rana is permanent because he is Gambhir's favourite: Kris Srikkanth
Indian pacer Harshit Rana is one of them, who has found a place in the squads - both T20I as well as ODIs.
Speaking on his YouTube channel “Cheeky Cheeka”, the 1983 World Cup winner took a subtle dig at Harshit Rana for his inclusion over all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakaravarthy. “Harshit Rana is a permanent because he is Gautam Gambhir’s favourite. He is always a certainty and the first name on the team sheet after Shubman Gill,” Srikkanth quipped.
Watch video of Srikkanth taking a subtle dig at Harshit Rana’s inclusion:
It is to be noted that Harshit Rana made his ODI debut earlier this year against England and has usually found a place in absence of Jasprit Bumrah. However, he still hasn’t had his best performance, but continues to be a permanent member of the side across formats off late.
India’s white-ball squads for Australia tour:
ODI squad: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.
T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.
