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Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has strongly backed Harshit Rana before the fourth T20I against England. After India's poor performances in the ongoing five-match T20I series, many fans have demanded that Harshit be dropped from the playing XI.
However, Chopra believes that Rana has done enough to keep his place in the team and feels the young fast bowler is being criticized much more than he deserves. The Men in Blue are already 2-0 behind in the five-match T20I series, so the fourth match has become a must-win game. India stare at two unwanted records ahead of crucial 4th T20I vs England.
Aakash Chopra defends Harshit Rana as calls for his axing grow
Ahead of the fourth T20I on July 9 in Bristol, Aakash Chopra said that Harshit Rana has performed well whenever he has got an opportunity for India and shown that he can help the team with both bat and ball.
He has taken 16 wickets in 12 T20I innings so far at an economy rate of 9.71 and scored 101 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 110.98. Amid this, Mohammad Kaif shares honest verdict on India's leadership experiment in T20Is.
Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel, “His numbers are not that bad. He has done decently in whatever chances he has gotten. He keeps getting trolled unnecessarily for everything. He has been sent up the ladder a few times. He almost won the match in Ireland. There shouldn't be such a big ruckus. He is talented.”
Aakash Chopra fires back at Harshit Rana's trolls with strong message
He also stressed that Harshit is part of the Indian team because of his performances, not because of anyone's backing. Chopra admitted that Harshit dropped an important catch recently, but he still believes he is a good fielder and a talented all-rounder. He said people are trolling Harshit too much even though he is still very new to international cricket and needs time to improve.
Chopra added, “He is a performer. He has not come through recommendation; because he is playing and performing well. He bowls and bats, and although he dropped a catch, he is also a decent fielder. He is a contributor. The hate Harshit Rana gets is a little too much.”
Aakash Chopra questions India's batting call, defends Shivam Dube
Meanwhile, the cricket pundit also spoke about India's surprising decision to send Harshit Rana ahead of Shivam Dube during the third T20I against England. He admitted that he was surprised because India had already lost five wickets inside the Powerplay.
He felt Dube should have batted first ahead of Harshit, saying, 'Sending Rana so early, it didn't make a lot of sense.' The former India batter also rejected the idea that the team management is ignoring Dube while trying to make Harshit Rana a proper all-rounder.
Chopra signed off by saying, “Are we underutilizing Dube in an attempt to find Harshit Rana as an all-rounder? Not really. We have been using Shivam Dube decently thus far. In fact, his name has also come in ODIs now in place of Nitish Kumar Reddy, and he is being made to bowl a lot as well. So, I don't think it is correct that we are underutilizing him and are wanting to promote Harshit as an all-rounder.”
