As the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on October 25 announced India’s 18-member squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Australia, there were a few surprised additions. Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy received their maiden call-ups in the red-ball format. Abhimanyu Easwaran who is yet to make his Test debut is in the squad as back-up opener. But Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Rana who is yet to make his debut for India was backed by head coach Gautam Gambhir who overlooked his progress in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024-winning side.
A Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official told PTI that Gambhir has been pushing for Rana’s case for a long time. He was picked over Navdeep Saini who was part of the previous tour of Australia and Mukesh Kumar who has played three Tests so far.
“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. 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,” said the BCCI source on conditions of anonymity.
Rana’s numbers
Rana was one of the KKR's top performers in IPL 2024. The 22-year-old claimed 19 wickets from 13 games. He bagged four wickets each for Shreyas Iyer-led India D in Duleep Trophy 2024. So far, he has played five first-class matches taking 36 wickets at an average of 24.75.
Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made an impressive T20I debut in the home series against Bangladesh series was called up as well. His inclusion is solely based on India's need for a fast-bowling all-rounder. The decision was taken as Hardik Pandya is not playing red-ball cricket yet and Shivam Dube is not the ideal choice either. Earlier, the selectors have opted for Shardul Thakur but he recently returned to action after his surgery.
“Hardik Pandya has stopped playing red-ball cricket and Shivam Dube's (he is injured) bowling isn't up to the mark. Nitish is a work in progress but if India are to bring in balance, they need their fourth seamer to be an all-rounder. Hence Nitish is a desperate choice going by his IPL and Bangladesh series performance,” the source said.
The Test series will kick off at the Perth Stadium on November 26.
India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed
