“I trust you”: How Gautam Gambhir was crucial in Harshit Rana’s maiden ODI call-up?

The BCCI on Thursday announced Team India’s squads for the ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka later this month, with one of the biggest stories being Suryakumar Yadav getting picked as the side’s new captain in the shortest format over Hardik Pandya. After India’s T20 World Cup triumph, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are also set to make a return in ODIs. Another key highlight was the maiden ODI call-up for young pacer Harshit Rana.

In an interview with PTI, Harshit credited head coach Gautam Gambhir for his career transformation. He received national attention thanks to his incredible IPL season with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) where he took 19 wickets and was quite influential in KKR’s victorious campaign. Also, it was no one else but Gambhir who was the mentor of the side.

“If my outlook towards the game has changed, a lot of it has got to do with Gauti bhaiyya’s presence in the KKR dressing room and how he changed my mindset. At the elite level, you require skills but more than skills you require the heart to handle the pressure,” Harshit said.

“Gauti bhaiyya would always tell me ‘I trust you, you can win the match’,” Harshit added while recalling his interactions with the new India head coach.

The post “I trust you”: How Gautam Gambhir was crucial in Harshit Rana’s maiden ODI call-up? appeared first on Cricket Country.