Why India went with Harshit Rana over Akash Deep in 1st Test match vs Australia?

An interesting inclusion in the India team for the first Test match against Australia was Harshit Rana. In the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024, the addition of Rana into the playing XI has raised a lot of eyebrows because the young lad is relatively new to red-ball cricket. He has played just ten first-class matches in his career before making his debut for India. Meanwhile, Akash Deep has proven his worth in the past against England and Bangladesh. 

Even then, the management decided to go with Rana over Akash Deep. What could be the reason? Did it have to do anything with Gautam Gambhir's connection with KKR? Well, there are a lot of questions which are being raised, but the answer is quite simple. Rana has been quite effective during the net sessions that India had over 10-15 days since their arrival. 

Hence, the team management judged the players based on their current forms and not the experience they hold. It will be interesting to see how far this decision works out for India in the first Test match. The team management was criticised heavily for their uncanny decisions during the New Zealand series. If this time things don't go in their favour, India will be slammed at a different level. 

Nitish Kumar Reddy gets his debut cap against Australia

The inclusion of Nitish Kumar Reddy in the playing XI is also a topic of discussion. The player is new to red-ball cricket and doesn't have much experience. India needed a medium-pace bowling all-rounder who could contribute some runs with the bat and they got it in the form of Reddy. Reddy gained the spotlight in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 while playing with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). 

His quickfire half-century put his name out in the cricket world and he was chosen for the Zimbabwe series as well but missed it due to injury. After recovering, he was included again in the series against Bangladesh where he played a match-winning knock of 74 off 34 balls, also picking up two wickets. This is the main reason behind Indian management's faith in the newcomer.