India’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, displayed tough love and affection for his right-arm pacer, Harshit Rana, as the latter enjoyed his special performance during the third ODI of the three-match series against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), when he played a key role for India’s victory to pick four wickets for 39 runs and restricted the home side for 236 runs. 

Harshit Rana had a tough start to the trip during the first two games at the Optus Stadium in Perth and the Adelaide Oval. His hard lengths and wide lines of the deliveries were smacked around the park. However, the management still had faith in the bowler while they decided to rest the left-arm seamer, Arshdeep Singh, for the last clash.

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“Special mention to Harshit, that was an outstanding spell. What I want to say is stay humble, stay grounded, keep working hard. It’s just the start.” The current Indian head coach, Gautam Gambhir, expressed in a video posted by BCCI TV after the end of the third 50-over clash in Sydney.

Watch: “Stay humbled”- Gautam Gambhir’s advice to Harshit Rana post AUS vs IND Sydney ODI

The Delhi pacer, aged 23, has picked up four wickets in three Test innings at an average of 50.75, besides collecting 16 wickets in eight innings of the 50-over format at an average of 20.75, a strike rate of 21.3, and an economy rate of 5.82. In the three T20Is, he has five wickets at an economy rate of 10.18.

An impressive all-round outing, applauded by inspiring words from Head Coach @GautamGambhir 🙌 🗣

🎥 A reflection of the 3️⃣rd #AUSvIND ODI, followed by a presentation of the 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 medal 🏅 #TeamIndia | @ImRo45…

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 27, 2025

“First, Krishnamachari Srikkanth took the case of this kid. After retirement, cricketers have started their YouTube channels to earn a living, but please don’t scrutinize any kid who has just started. They have the right to guide, scold, but please don’t say anything to increase your YouTube channel’s visibility.” Rana’s childhood coach, Shravan Kumar, told the Times of India.

Before the tour, the former Indian opening batter, Kris Srikkanth, had alleged that Rana was picked for the Blue Brigade due to being a yes man to the head coach. But the pacer has shown his capability in various phases of the game.