Gautam Gambhir Names Harshit Rana India’s “Project Player” for 2027 World Cup

Every time a question is asked of the Indian team's head coach Gautam Gambhir, whether former captain Rohit Sharma and legendary batsman Virat Kohli will be a part of the Indian team for the 2027 World Cup, he never gives a direct answer. Gautam Gambhir often appears to feel uneasy when it comes to the role of Kohli and Rohit. But when it comes to young fast bowler Harshit Rana, coach Gambhir has a certain and prepared plan chalked out for him, despite the fact that the World Cup is two years away from now.

After the 2-1 ODI series win against South Africa, Gambhir clearly said that he is developing Harshit as a useful batsman at number 8 to add depth to the Indian batting line-up. This is not a new thinking. Nowadays, many teams expect their fast bowlers to bat lower down the order. Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch played this role for South Africa in this series. Players like Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Ben Stokes already turn matches with both the bat and the ball.

According to media reports, Gambhir has declared Harshit Rana as India's "project player." The coach says, "We are developing a player like Harshit so that he can score runs at number 8. In two years, when the World Cup will be held on South Africa's bouncy pitches, we need three fast bowlers as well as depth in the batting."

Although Harshit's performance with the ball in this series was mediocre, taking only four wickets in three matches. South African pitches have been batsman-friendly and offer extra bounce to bowlers, to play this ambitious all-rounder's role, he will need to contribute consistently with the bat as well, so the team can fully trust him.

Gambhir said, "If Harshit continues to develop as a bowling all-rounder, it will be a huge plus for us. With Jasprit Bumrah's return, seeing Arshdeep, Prasidh, and Harshit gives us a lot of hope." These three bowlers are relatively new to ODI cricket, with no less than 15 ODI appearances each, yet they performed well against a strong batting line-up like South Africa.

In the first two matches of the series, South Africa chased down targets of 350+, but in the third match, Prasidh Krishna restricted them to 280, a target easily achieved by Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli. Gambhir concluded, "If we can develop Harshit at number 8 in a way that allows him to contribute with the bat as well, we will have the perfect balance. There's still a long way to go, but the direction is clear."