The Indian fans have been left in disbelief after Gautam Gambhir's latest insane strategy has found Harshit Rana coming over Shivam Dube in the batting order at the MCG after India lost 5 early wickets with less than 50 runs on the board.
India have struggled horribly with the bat after Mitchell Marsh, the Australian skipper, pushed them to bat first after winning the toss against Suryakumar Yadav. Unlike the first game at Canberra, India has not had a convincing start in the second T20I.
Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav, the two batters who set the tone for India's innings in the first T20I, were dismissed in no time at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. India looked in deep trouble with 5 batters back into the dugout, and then came a mind-boggling tactic from the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir.
After Axar Patel was run out in the eighth over of the game for his lack of game awareness, Indian bowling all-rounder Rana was sent in at no. 7, above the World Cup-winning batting all-rounder Shivam Dube.
Dube has been playing for India for the last three years and was part of the World Cup-winning squad in 2024 and the recent Asia Cup as well. However, Gambhir decided to send in Rana ahead of him, maybe to prove his all-round efficiency.
Much to everyone's surprise, Rana has batted with utmost caution and has currently scored the second-highest on the scoreboard. At the time of writing, he went on to a half-century partnership alongside opener Abhishek Sharma, who smashed a fifty off just 24 balls.
Shivam Dube is likely reserved for some death-over fireworks
While some have slammed Gautam Gambhir for giving excessive preference to the pacer Harshit Rana, some have understood his motive behind the move. Shivam Dube is known more for his long levers towards the end of the innings, which will be crucial at the death.
Moreover, with Hazlewood finishing his quota of 4 overs, Ellis and Kuhnemann will be the best head-to-heads against Dube, who has infused power into shots despite the two bowlers hardly giving any pace to the batters.
After Rana's invaluable contribution, Dube was unleashed at the right moment in the Indian innings. He took the field with 26 balls remaining in the innings, a perfect time to come in for the death overs specialist.
"Manifesting a Fifty for Harshit today" - Fans react to bowler's promotion
Harshit Rana according to Gambhir #INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/Lg9asFU8id
— विक्रम ?ꪊꪑꪖ? ?? (@printf_meme) October 31, 2025Incidents no one would have believed to be true if not recorded.Harshit "Bradman" Rana for you. pic.twitter.com/wxH2wfDLLR
— Ismail (@wyd_ismail) October 31, 2025- No. 3 Expert Tilak Varma is batting at 5- Arshdeep Singh isn't in Playing 11- Yashasvi Jaiswal isn't even in squad- Sanju Samson is unnecessarily pushed at 3- Harshit Rana is batting before Shivam DubeGautam Gambhir favourism is destroying Indian Cricket. pic.twitter.com/XkAtxqgQ7t
— Selfless⁴⁵ (@SelflessCricket) October 31, 2025Coach Gambhir when he gets to know Harshit Rana will get both bowling and batting- pic.twitter.com/AgcNVoAnxc
— TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy) October 31, 2025Menifesting A Fifty for Harshit Rana today. ? pic.twitter.com/NDD7PRxwhm
— Ankit Choudhary (@Ankit7083) October 31, 2025Gautam Gambhir sent his KKR Parchi Harshit Rana ahead of Shivam Dube to bat???? pic.twitter.com/K55hpFIYpb
— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) October 31, 2025Wtf is gg thinking man , sending harshit rana before shivam dube ???Like seriously dude ?? #INDvsAUS
— £^² (@ehsassyyyy) October 31, 2025WTF Harshit Rana over shivam dube this gambhir is really gone mad ?? pic.twitter.com/zFmNDntzI3
— Loyal Cricket Fan (@ProGamerYouTub4) October 31, 2025ALSO READ: Josh Hazlewood hits Shubman Gill on the head with brutal bouncer; nasty blow leaves batter shaken at MCG
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