New Delhi: Right-arm fast bowler Harshit Rana has been dropped from the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday confirmed.
According to the Cricket Board of India, the 24-year-old suffered a knee injury during the defending champions’ practice match against South Africa in the previous edition’s second round and was later deemed unfit by the BCCI’s medical team after consultation with experts.
“Indian fast bowler Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 after sustaining a knee injury sustained during a practice match against South Africa in Navi Mumbai on February 4, 2026,” the BCCI said in a statement.
“Following consultations and scans with a specialist, the BCCI medical team deemed him unfit to participate in the tournament. The team management wishes him a speedy recovery,” it added.
As a result, experienced fast bowler Mohammad Siraj replaced Rana in the Indian squad for the 20-team mega event scheduled from February 7 to March 8.
“Mohammed Siraj will replace Harshit,” BCCI confirmed.
For the uninitiated, the co-hosts and defending champions will begin their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against the United States (USA) on February 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Their remaining group-stage games are scheduled against Namibia and the Netherlands on February 12 and 18 respectively.
Updated India T20 World Cup squad:
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Thilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Akshar Patel (vc), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakraborty, Washington Shikraj and Mohammad Sundar.