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Former Indian opener Sadagoppan Ramesh questioned some of the decisions taken by the team management, especially the selection of Harshit Rana, after the Men in Blue lost the five-match T20 series to England. With a nine-wicket defeat in Bristol, India conceded a 3–0 lead to England. Recently, Aakash Chopra gave a bold verdict regarding Harshit Rana.
Ramesh believes that the national selectors need to be more careful while choosing players returning from injuries. Believing that India cannot select players who are not completely match-fit, especially during important matches, he took a dig at Rana.
Sadagoppan Ramesh criticizes Harshit Rana’s selection after England series defeat
Harshit Rana was ruled out of the fourth T20I against England at Bristol on 9 July due to a hamstring injury suffered during the third match. Harshit recently recovered from knee surgery, due to which he had to miss both IPL 2026 and T20 World Cup 2026.
Even though the fast bowler did not play any domestic or competitive matches after his recovery, he was directly selected in India’s T20 squad for the tour of Ireland and England.
Ramesh questioned this decision and said that players should prove their fitness in competitive cricket before returning to the national team. He believes that coming back too quickly after major knee surgery can increase the risk of other injuries such as hamstring or thigh muscle problems. Meanwhile, Parthiv Patel says that Tilak Verma should sit out for Sanju Samson in the fifth T20 match.
Sadagoppan Ramesh said on his YouTube channel, “How was Harshit Rana directly selected in the Indian team without proving his fitness anywhere after the surgery? If you have not fully recovered from the knee surgery, it further leads to hamstring or quad injuries, as happened with him. It is clear that he did not return to the Indian team with 100% fitness. This is just a testament to how different players can be. There are different parameters. India will give results again only when they fix this issue.”
Sadagoppan Ramesh made big claim on Harshit Rana’s defeat in Zimbabwe
The former opening batsman also told another interesting thing. Harshit had already been rested for the upcoming Zimbabwe series before suffering this latest injury. Ramesh believes that this shows that the team management was already trying to manage his workload as they knew that he would not be able to play consistently after returning from surgery.
Ramesh further said, “The fact that they rested him for the Zimbabwe tour and the squad was announced even before this injury made it clear that they rested him knowing that he would not be able to play the series continuously. This is not about the ability of Harshit Rana.”
Also, Ramesh made it clear that he is not questioning the talent or ability of Harshit Rana. He believes that the young fast bowler has a bright future and can become an important player for India, but everything depends on his fitness. Before being injured, Harshit played five matches and took seven wickets during the tour of Ireland and England.
India had no choice: Ramesh reveals why Washington Sundar was selected
He also believes that Washington Sundar was included mainly because India did not have much options. Varun Chakravarthy was also ruled out of the fourth T20I with a hamstring injury, while Ravi Bishnoi had struggled badly earlier in the series.
The leg spinner did not get any wickets and conceded 60 runs in his four overs during the second T20I in Manchester. However, Sundar also failed to leave an impact. He scored only five runs from eight balls at Bristol and bowled only one over, conceding 19 runs without taking any wickets.
Ramesh said, “Despite England having only two left-handers due to Varun Chakravarthy’s injury, India were forced to play him (Sundar). It is also clear that India does not trust Ravi Bishnoi.”