Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has defended the inclusion of pacer Harshit Rana in the Indian XI, saying that his selection is not his mistake and the Delhi cricketer is doing his job whenever he gets chances.
This comes after Rana was trolled heavily on social media after India lost the third T20I to England by 125 runs, their biggest loss in T20I cricket. India was bowled out for 76 in a chase of 201 runs in Nottingham as England went 2-0 up in the five-match series with two games to spare.
Harshit registered figures of 2/40 in four overs as England set India a 202-run target in Nottingham on Tuesday, July 7. He was even sent out to bat in powerplay overs as India lost five wickets early on.
Chopra questioned trolls for criticizing the seam-bowling all-rounder's selection and praised Harshit for giving it his all with the bat and the ball.
"Harshit Rana needs to be spoken about. We troll him a lot, but Harshit Rana is doing the job whenever he gets opportunities. He does the job in bowling. He bowls the difficult overs. He comes and delivers. He packs a punch. He had almost won the Ireland match with his batting.
So, he is doing his bit. He bowls with the new and old ball, and if you send him up the order in batting, he does what he can. Please cut him some slack. His being selected is not his mistake. Talk to the selectors if you have a problem with his selection. However, if a player does well, we all must stand up and clap. He is unnecessarily trolled a lot," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Harshit Rana dismissed Jacob Bethell and Tom Banton as England posted 201/7 in 20 overs.
In the same video, Chopra lauded Prince Yadav for making an immediate impact in his first game of the series. Prince Yadav took 2/30, including the wicket of Jos Buttler, who was bowled with a precise yorker.
"The excellent thing that has happened is Prince Yadav. The first ball he hit on Jos Buttler's stumps it's extremely difficult to bowl a yorker with the new ball, and he bowled it absolutely precisely. He almost felled Jos Buttler to his knees. That was a stellar ball to begin with. It was an incredible ball bowled by Prince Yadav.
He was played in place of Ravi Bishnoi, which we had expected. After that, he dismissed Harry Brook. The ball hit slightly high on the bat, and a fielder was present in the deep. In fact, he would have got three wickets had Harshit taken the catch. So, Prince Yadav has done really well. A lot of promise, really high ceiling, which is a good thing," Chopra observed.
Prince has picked up five wickets at an economy rate of 6.50 in two T20Is, having delivered a spell of 3/22 in four overs on his debut against Ireland last month.
