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Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has strongly supported Harshit Rana before the fourth T20 match against England. After India’s poor performance in the ongoing five-match T20 series, many fans have demanded Harshit be dropped from the playing eleven.
However, Chopra believes that Rana has done enough to retain his place in the team and feels that the young fast bowler is being criticized more than he deserves. The Men in Blue are already 2-0 behind in the five-match T20 series, so it has become necessary to win the fourth match. India have their sights set on two unwanted records ahead of the crucial fourth T20I against England.
Akash Chopra defends Harshit Rana as demand for his removal increases
Ahead of the fourth T20 match in Bristol on July 9, Aakash Chopra said that whenever Harshit Rana has got a chance for India, he has performed well and shown that he can help the team with both bat and ball.
So far, he has taken 16 wickets in 12 T20I innings at an economy rate of 9.71 and scored 101 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 110.98. Meanwhile, Mohammad Kaif shared his honest verdict on India’s leadership experiment in T20Is.
Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel, “His stats are not that bad. Whatever opportunities he has got, he has performed well. He keeps getting trolled unnecessarily on everything. He has been sent up several times. He almost won the match in Ireland. There should not be such a big fuss. He is talented.”
Aakash Chopra gave a strong message on Harshit Rana’s trolls
He also stressed that Harshit is part of the Indian team because of his performances and not because of anyone’s support. Chopra admitted that Harshit had dropped a crucial catch recently, but he still believes that he is a good fielder and a talented all-rounder. He said that people are trolling Harshit too much while he is still very new to international cricket and needs time to improve.
Chopra said, “He is a performer. He has not come through recommendation; because he is playing and performing well. He bowls and bats, and although he has dropped one catch, he is also a good fielder. He is a contributor. The hate that Harshit Rana gets is a bit much.”
Aakash Chopra raised questions on India’s batting, defended Shivam Dubey
Meanwhile, the cricket pundit also talked about India’s surprising decision of sending Harshit Rana ahead of Shivam Dube during the third T20I against England. He admitted that he was surprised as India had already lost five wickets inside the powerplay.
He believes Dubey should have batted before Harshit, adding, ‘There was no point in sending Rana so early.’ The former India batsman also rejected the idea that the team management is ignoring Dube in its attempt to make Harshit Rana a proper all-rounder.
Chopra said, “Are we under-utilizing Dube in an attempt to find Harshit Rana as an all-rounder? Not really. We are using Shivam Dube well so far. In fact, his name has now come up in ODIs in place of Nitish Kumar Reddy, and he is also being bowled a lot. So, I don’t think it is right that we are under-utilizing him and using Harshit as an all-rounder. I want to promote.”