Gautam Gambhir "Pushing His Case...": Inside Details Of Surprising Selection Calls In India Squad vs Australia

Delhi speedster Harshit Rana and Andhra seam bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy have earned their maiden call-up in the 18-member Indian team led by Rohit Sharma for the upcoming five-Test series against Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.  Delhi speedster Harshit is only nine First-Class matches old in which he has taken 36 wickets. But with a stellar IPL 2024 season under Gautam Gambhir at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), where he took 19 wickets, Rana has come quickly into the national reckoning and has been part of the squads in all formats, although he is yet to make his debut. A BCCI source revealed that Rana has been purely Gambhir's choice

“Harshit Rana has been completely Gautam Gambhir's choice. He has been pushing his case for the longest time since the start of the Sri Lanka tour," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

He bowls consistently in the 140-click range and has a good short ball apart from being able to nail his yorkers perfectly.

“He was also kept as a reserve bowler. Since he is younger and quicker than both Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar, he has pipped them to the final squad,” the source added.

However, pacer Mohammed Shami is not part of the squad while left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been advised long-term rehabilitation for his groin injury.

From the squad that was picked for the New Zealand series, Axar Patel has been dropped as off-spinner Washington Sundar, who has 11 wickets in his kitty so far in the ongoing Test in Pune, preferred over the Gujarat left-arm spinner.

Bengal man Abhimanyu Easwaran has entered the squad as reserve opener after four back-to-back hundreds in Duleep, Irani and Ranji Trophy matches.

The cover is because of the possibility of Rohit