Former Indian Test opener Sadagopan Ramesh has given credit to head coach Gautam Gambhir for backing Harshit Rana. The seam-bowling flourished in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand. In the third ODI at Indore, Rana scored a fine knock of 52 runs off 43 balls to keep India afloat in the game but his efforts went in vain as India suffered a 41-run loss.

Rana added 99 runs off just 69 balls with Virat Kohli for the seventh wicket and batted at the top of his game. Earlier, in the opening game of the series, Rana scored a crucial knock of 29 runs off just 23 balls when India needed some quick runs.

Furthermore, Rana scalped six wickets in three matches of the series at an average of 33.50.

Sadagopan Ramesh said on Star Sports, “Once Hardik Pandya comes in place of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Hardik Pandya and Harshit Rana as a combination will be very good. Hardik Pandya, followed by Harshit Rana, will bolster the batting depth. We have to give it to him (Harshit). There was a lot of criticism of him. Credit has to be given to Gambhir for placing trust in him. He kept backing him irrespective of the criticism from the outside, which has helped Harshit perform.”

Ramesh said the slot that Harshit Rana bats at, is extremely tricky. Rana has shown the right skills, and he has the team’s backing.

“The slot Harshit Rana bats in is extremely challenging because there is no one after him with Kuldeep, Arshdeep, and Siraj. He is like the last stop so to perform under that pressure, we’ll have to give it to him. He has the potential to deliver the goods under even more crises against the stronger sides,” said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).

Rana would look to continue the good show in the T20I series against New Zealand.