'Extremely shameful': Gambhir hits out at Srikkanth after Rana criticism

NEW DELHI: Gautum Gambhir hit out against K Srikkanth after the latter criticised Harshit Rana's selection for the upcoming white-ball tour Down Under. "It's extremely shameful," the head coach said. "Criticise me, I can handle it."

In a video on his YouTube channel, he accused Rana of being a 'yes man'. "Best is to be like Harshit Rana and be a constant yes-man to Gambhir to be selected," the former chairman of selectors said. "There is only one permanent member, Harshit Rana. Nobody knows why he is there in the team. You don't pick some irrespective if they do well and take others even if they don't."

When Gambhir was asked the question, he said: "It's unfair that you are not even sparing a 23-year-old kid to run your YouTube channel," Gambhir, known for his combative nature on and off the field, said after the match. "It's unfair because, after all, his father is not some ex-chairman, an ex-cricketer, or an NRI. Whatever cricket he has played, he has played on his own merit, and in the future too, he will play on his own merit.”

The 44-year-old took exception to Srikkanth's views as he saw the latter's comments as one that was made in bad faith. “Targeting someone individually is not fair. You can target someone for their performance, and for that, there are people... there are selectors,” he said.

“But when you say such things to a 23-year-old kid, and then social media amplifies it even more, just imagine his mindset when he hears all this. Tomorrow, even your kid could end up playing for the country. The least one can do is realise that he is not 33 years old; he is just 23. You can criticise me; I can handle it. But a 23-year-old boy is a 23-year-old boy, and this is unacceptable."

He also implored the wider cricket community to ignore the white noise around the Delhi pacer. "Target their performance, not the individual,” he said. Apart from Srikkanth, the likes of R Ashwin have also questioned Rana's place in the side.

This is of course not the first time that Gambhir has hit back at criticism levelled at him by former cricketers. After Sunil Gavaskar, in a regular column, had questioned Gambhir for not taking an equal share of the prize money post the Champions Trophy, he had said: "It's people's job to criticise me, and they should criticise.

"But there are some people who have been sitting in the commentary box for 20-25 years. They questioned everything I did. They think that Indian cricket is their property. Unfortunately, Indian cricket is not someone's property. It is the identity of 140 crore Indians and it will remain that way. They questioned my coaching, my records and even my prize money."

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