Rohit Sharma. | (Image Credits: Twitter)
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma came out in support of Harshit Rana after the latter struggled in the pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval. The right-handed batter believes it would be quite unfair to the youngster to keep him out after poor performance only in one Test, but reckons India will keep their options open for the following Test in Brisbane.
The 22-year-old made his Test debut in the previous match in Perth and dismissed Travis Head with a peach for his first wicket. He went on to dismiss Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon to notch up a haul of 15.2-3-48-3. However, the right-arm struggled in Adelaide, failing to take a wicket in 16 overs and conceding 86 runs in the only innings he bowled.
Speaking at a presser, Rohit defended Rana by saying:
“Rana ne kuch galat nahin kiya tha first Test match mein. Unhone jo bhi kiya, kaafi accha kiya. Crucial breakthroughs jab team ko chahiye they unhone dilaaya. Main believe karta hoon ki kisi ne kuch galat nahin kiya hai toh bina kisi reason ke bahar nahin kiya jaa sakta hai aur karna bhi nahin chahiye.”
(Rana didn’t do anything wrong in the first Test and did well there. Whenever the team needed crucial breakthroughs, he provided it. I feel if a player hasn’t done anything wrong, he shouldn’t be dropped.)
