India pacer Harshit Rana was one of the star performers for the side in the third ODI against Australia as he picked up four wickets and helped the team in bundling out the hosts for 236 runs. The 23-year-old dismissed the likes of Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen and Josh Hazlewood as the hosts weren'tr able to post a big total on the board. Harshit bowled 6.4 overs in the innings and recorded figures of 4/39.
Gavaskar fires back at Harshit's critics
Coming into the series, there were many who questioned Harshit's place in the team and have been critical of his performance. However, Sunil Gavaskar feels that it is wrong to criticise a player before the match takes place and slammed Harshit's critics for 'demoralizing' the player.
"I am so happy to see Harshit Rana getting those four wickets because he has been under fire. That is a little bit hard to understand because at the end of the day, this is our team. And by all means, criticize after but not before. Because by criticizing anybody before, any player, you are actually demoralizing that player,” Gavaskar told India Today.
"Once the series is over, you can by all means ask why he was picked because then you also have the benefit of hindsight. But once the team is selected, we should all absolutely 100% back the team and want it to win. Because at the end of the day, it is our team, it is India's team,” he added.
Harshit featured in all the three matches of the series and finished with six wickets. The 23-year-old proved to be quite impressive for the team despite their 2-1 defeat in the series. He will now be shifting his focus to the five-match T20I series against Australia that is set to commence from October 29.
Rohit and Virat steer India to victory
Meanwhile, alongside Harshit, the duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli also performed brilliantly in the third ODI against Australia. They formed a massive partnership of 168 runs and while Rohit scored a terrific century, Virat played a robust knock of 77 as the Men in Blue recorded a comprehensive 9-wicket victory.