Harshit Rana sustained an injury in the warm-up game.
The latest Harshit Rana injury update comes as a massive setback for India. The pacer has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup 2026, joining the growing list of injury concerns among all teams.
Rana sustained a knee injury in the warm-up fixture against South Africa and limped off the field after the fifth over of the innings. He bowled only a solitary over, where he pulled out of his run-up twice before eventually finishing the set.
Initially, the injury didn’t look serious, but it has been deemed serious enough and will keep him out of the competition. During the press conference before the opening game against USA, India captain Suryakumar Yadav didn’t confirm this Harshit Rana injury update, even though his words hinted that the young speedster won’t be fit in time.
“He’s not yet ruled out of the tournament. Physios are looking at him. But it doesn’t look good. We’ll get to know by today,” exclaimed Suryakumar on Rana.
India have brought in Mohammed Siraj as a replacement player for Harshit Rana in their T20 World Cup 2026 squad. He wasn’t part of the setup before, with his latest T20I outing coming in July 2024.
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Axar Patel (VC), Ishan Kishan (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj.
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Since then, India have backed Rana and hardly used other pacers, since they have Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube as other pace-bowling all-rounders. However, Siraj brings ample experience and did well in the IPL last season.
He snared 16 wickets at 32.93 runs apiece and an economy rate of 9.24 in 15 innings, with a best of 4/17. Siraj was also part of India’s T20 World Cup 2024 winning side, where he played a pivotal role during the USA leg of the tournament.
The only issue with him as a replacement is that India don’t get the same batting depth, for Harshit has been among the most improved lower-order hitters and showcased his ability during the ODI series against New Zealand. Still, the logic behind the move is understandable: they wanted an experienced option in the squad, and Siraj brings top skills along with the expertise to bowl in death overs.
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