Gambhir accused of 'favouritism', shown no mercy after picking Harshit Rana over Arshdeep by fans: 'Politics won again'

The Indian team retained the same bowling combination as the recently concluded ODI series against England—three spinners and three fast bowlers—for the Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh on Thursday. Mohammed Shami, as expected, was the frontline pacer, with all-rounder Hardik Pandya joining him in the department. However, India's second specialist pacer was Harshit Rana rather than Arshdeep Singh, which left fans on social media angry. India's Harshit Rana celebrates after taking the wicket of Bangladesh's captain Najmul Hossain Shanto (R) during the ICC Champions Trophy one-day international (ODI) cricket match between Bangladesh and India(AFP)

Arshdeep was part of India's provisional squad for the Champions Trophy, which was announced back in January, while Rana was only named in the team on the eve of the deadline date two weeks ago after Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the tournament. Rana then played all three ODIs against England, where he made his debut, picking six wickets. While he vindicated head coach Gautam Gambhir's selection move as he showed his ability to hit the deck hard and extract bounce, he did struggle with the new ball, as England batters smashed him for 75 runs in his eight overs in the powerplay across the series. Arshdeep, on the other hand, played just one game, the final ODI.

While the selection choices in the England series did indicate that Gambhir would favour Rana as the second pacer, the move left fans furious on social media, as they accused the head coach of "favouritism." Notably, the former India opener played an influential role in handing Rana a debut across formats since the end of IPL 2024, when the youngster featured in Gambhir-mentored Kolkata Knight Riders.

Rana contributes to India's stunning powerplay show

Despite his poor powerplay numbers in the England series, the team management trusted the Delhi speedster against Bangladesh, whose openers aren't as attacking as England's.

After Mohammed Shami opened the floodgates with the dismissal of Soumya Sarkar in the opening over, Rana dismissed

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto on the fourth ball of the next over. Shami picked one more, while Axar Patel snared two in two as India reduced the opponents to five down for just 39 runs in the powerplay.

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