Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan hailed young pacer Harshit Rana for performing consistently despite the criticisms ahead of the all-important third ODI against South Africa in Visakhapatnam on December 6. Pathan also urged the Indian management to remain patient with Prasidh Krishna, similar to Harshit, despite the former's poor performances in the ongoing South African series.Prasidh has been expensive in each of the first two ODIs with little impact, resulting in his three wickets at an average of over 44 and an economy of 8.48 in the series. Meanwhile, Rana has been in impressive penetrative form, picking up four wickets in the two outings, including a match-winning spell of 3/65 in the series opener.Talking about the two Indian pacers on his YouTube channel, Pathan said (4:00):"Harshit Rana has had to endure a lot of criticism. But look at him now. He consistently performs and takes wickets. He has picked up three or more wickets atleast three or four times. So he has been doing his job inspite of the criticisms."He added: "Likewise, if India remains patient with Prasidh Krishna, given his height and pace, he'll also have a chance to deliver performances. 33 wickets in 20 matches means he's taking 1.5 wickets per game. So it's not a bad record in ODIs."Despite the struggles in the ongoing series, Prasidh boasts a fairly impressive ODI record with 33 wickets at an average of 28.09 in 20 matches."Doesn't mean if Prasidh Krishna has one or two matches, he should be dropped" - Irfan PathanIrfan Pathan urged the Indian management to continue with Prasidh Krishna despite his struggles in the ongoing South African series. While stating that the experienced duo of Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami should return, Pathan maintained the importance for India to build a fast-bowling unit by persisting with youngsters."Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami should be back if their fitness is at a high level. I am the door is not closed on them. But that doesn't mean if Prasidh Krishna has one or two matches, he should be dropped. The situation we are in, managing Bumrah's workload, Shami being left out because of fitness issues, and though he is proving in domestic cricket with stellar performances that his fitness is back, and though Mohammed Siraj looks like he'll be back and become a regular in ODIs, is it worthwhile having just two or three fast bowlers to do the job?," said Pathan (via the aforementioned source).He concluded:"Other fast bowlers must be prepared. If you don't, a fast bowling unit, which is paramount, will not be available. When Akash Deep played in England, he could do so because he was well prepared and had played in the prior few series. So it's important to back pacers for some time. Those who are playing must be backed. Also, these are tough conditions."Both ODIs thus far have been high-scoring, making life difficult for the bowlers, as both sides have scored at least 330 in each of their two innings.