Harshit Rana Archives

India announce Harshit Rana replacement in World Cup squad

MUMBAI: India have replaced injured bowler Harshit Rana with pacer Mohammed Siraj in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad.

Harshit, 24, suffered a knee injury during the reigning champions’ warm-up fixture against South Africa on Wednesday, which eventually ruled him out of the World Cup.

“Team India pacer Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 after sustaining a knee injury during the warm-up match against South Africa in Navi Mumbai on February 4th 2026,” the BCCI said in a statement.

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“Following consultations with a specialist and subsequent scans, 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, pacer Mohammed Siraj was named in the squad for the mega event, scheduled to run from February 7 to March 8.

The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 has approved Mohammad Siraj as a replacement for Harshit Rana in the India squad.

A player can only be replaced after obtaining approval from the Event Technical Committee (ETC), which must approve the new player before they are officially added to the squad.

India’s updated T20 World Cup squad:

Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar and Mohammed Siraj.

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Sunil Gavaskar fumes at India concussion sub tactic in fourth England T20I

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at India for a concussion sub-selection of Harshit Rana in the fourth T20 International against England.

Harshit Rana made his T20I debut as a concussion substitute in the fourth T20I replacing batting all-rounder Shivam Dube. Dube was hit on his helmet in the last over of the side’s innings, forcing India to bring in a concussion sub.

Rana was instrumental in clinching a series victory for his team after taking 3-33 in his four overs.

After his heroics in the match, English captain Jos Butler and several former cricketers including Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook slammed the match referee’s decision, saying that Harshit Rana was not a like-for-like replacement for Dube.

Indian legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar also shared similar views regarding the controversy row that played a vital role in England’s thrashing in the fourth T20I.

“In the Pune game, Shivam Dube batted right till the end after having got hit on the helmet earlier, so clearly, he was not concussed. So, allowing a concussion substitute itself was not correct,” Gavaskar wrote in a column for an Indian publication.

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According to Sunil Gavaskar, Rana should have been allowed to field and not bowl as Dube had not sustained an injury while batting.

The former India captain further said that it was not justified for India to bring in Harshit Rana as a concussion sub for Dube.

“Even by the most generous stretching of the like-for-like term, there was nothing such between Dube and Rana, said cricketer turned commentator.

“With tongue firmly in cheek, one can say that they are the same height and have the same standard in fielding. Otherwise, there’s nothing like-for-like as far as they are concerned,” Gavaskar concluded.

For the unversed, India gave England a hammering in the fifth T20I and clinched the five-match series 4-1 at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

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Jos Buttler criticizes India’s use of Harshit Rana as concussion sub

England captain Jos Buttler has questioned the decision to bring pacer Harshit Rana as a concussion substitute for batting all-rounder Shivam Dube in the fourth T20I against India on Friday.

Controversy erupted in the fourth game of the five-match T20I series when India brought Rana as a concussion sub for Dube, who copped a blow to his helmet on the second-last ball of the penultimate over of their inning.

After a check-up, the Indian physio allowed Dube to play the final ball and was run out after scoring 53 runs from 34 balls.

He, however, did not take to the field in England’s innings due to the concussion and Rana took the field in his place. Rana went on to take three key wickets, contributing to India’s victory.

England captain raised questions over the decision to allow India to bring the pacer as a concussion sub for a batting all-rounder.

“It is not a like-for-like replacement. We don’t agree with that,” Jos Buttler said after the match. “Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25mph with the ball or Harshit [Rana] has really improved his batting.”

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“It’s part of the game and we really should have gone on to win the match, but we disagree with the decision.”

As per the ICC’s playing conditions for men’s T20Is, “The ICC Match Referee should ordinarily approve a Concussion Replacement Request if the replacement is a like-for-like player whose inclusion will not excessively advantage his/her team for the remainder of the match.”

“In assessing whether the nominated Concussion Replacement should be considered a like-for-like player, the ICC Match Referee should consider the likely role the concussed player would have played during the remainder of the match, and the normal role that would be performed by the nominated Concussion Replacement.”

Jos Buttler also lamented that the match officials did not consult with him before the decision.

“There was no consultation [with us]. That’s something I was thinking as I came out to bat – who is Harshit on for? They said he is a concussion replacement, which I obviously disagreed with,” he added.

“It is not a like-for-like replacement. They said that the match referee had made the decision. We had no say in it or any part of it. But we’ll ask Javagal [Srinath] some questions just to get some clarity around it.”

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