BCCI official claims Harshit Rana Gambhir's decisive push and Nitish Reddy's urgent pick for Australia tour

With Mohammed Shami not selected for the Australia tour, the Indian team management was on the lookout for a strong fast bowler to complement Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Akash Deep in rattling the Australian batters in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The contenders for the spot were Harshit Rana, Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, and Khaleel Ahmed. Despite lacking international experience, Delhi speedster Harshit Rana emerged as the chosen one, thanks to the backing of head coach Gautam Gambhir.

Harshit Rana, who is only nine First-Class matches old and has taken 36 wickets, had a good Duleep Trophy with two four-wicket hauls in two matches. With a stellar IPL season under Gautam Gambhir at the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rana has come quickly into the national reckoning and has been part of the squads in all formats, although he is yet to make his debut.

He bowls consistently in the 140-click range and has a good short ball, apart from being able to nail his yorkers perfectly.

A BCCI source said Gambhir has been an aggressive advocate for Rana as he is younger and quicker than Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar.

“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,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Apart from Harshit Rana, Andhra Pradesh Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made his T20I debut in the Bangladesh series also earned his maiden Test call-up. Nitish was the only seam-bowling all-rounder in India's 18-member squad. He has one century and two five-wicket hauls in his 21 First-Class games and he was more of a forced choice as the seam bowling all-rounder cupboard is bare.

The BCCI source confirmed that because of Hardik Pandya's decision not to play red-ball cricket and the injury to Shivam Dube, the selectors did not have many quality options to choose from. The Indian team management wanted a seam-bowling all-rounder for the balance of the side.

“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 India vs Australia Border-Gavaskar Trophy will begin with the first Test in Perth on November. The second Test will be a Day/Night affair at the Adelaide Oval starting on December 6. The teams will then travel to Brisbane for the third Test on December 14. There were no changes in the schedule for the Boxing Day Test (Melbourne) and the New Year's Test (in Sydney).