Aakash Chopra, former Indian batter, has openly questioned the team management’s decision to replace Harshit Rana with Anshul Kamboj in the Test squad. With Akash Deep’s fitness still in doubt for the fourth Test, Kamboj was called in as an injury cover, while left-armer Arshdeep Singh has already been ruled out for the Old Trafford match in Manchester with a hand injury. Chopra reminded fans that Harshit had been asked to stay in England after the unofficial Test series, only to be sent home later, and he now wants clarity from the selectors.
“Now that Harshit Rana is missing, the questions start stacking up. How does one figure out the keepers and the dropouts? If the yardstick is India A performance, Anshul did better, but the logic was to stick with Harshit for the sake of continuity,” Chopra explained in a recent YouTube video.
He believes the panel should have held on to Harshit for the sake of team stability, despite Kamboj also being a deserving candidate for the role.
“If that was the plan, then Harshit Rana should still be in the squad. He’s not; Anshul Kamboj is in. No one knows why. Maybe the higher-ups have a reason, but no one’s sharing it. I’m not shocked. Kamboj earned his spot, and now he’s here,” the insider said.
Rana was part of India A and played two Tests in Australia, but the numbers didn’t impress. In the unofficial Test against the England Lions at Canterbury, he bowled 27 overs and took just one wicket while leaking 99 runs.
At 23, he’s still regarded as Gautam Gambhir’s project. He’s the kind of bowler who hits the deck hard, and in Perth he drew attention with an off-cutter that sneaked past Travis Head’s guard. Yet it’s been obvious that he’s still a work-in-progress, not yet ready for red-ball cricket at the highest level.
Now the fourth Test at Old Trafford is set for Wednesday, July 23, and Kamboj is the one expected to take the new ball for the first time in his career
