Harshit Rana injury - (Source: X.com)
In a significant development, India's star pacer Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup 2026. Notably, the 24-year-old suffered a knee injury during India's warmup match against South Africa on February 4.
BCCI took to twitter to confirm that Rana will miss the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 because of joint tenderness. The BCCI also confirmed Mohammed Siraj as Rana's replacement for the prestigious event set to begin from February 7.
Harshit Rana's World Cup dream shattered
Harshit was injured in the warm-up fixture between India and South Africa and had to walk away from the field in the middle of the game. The two teams locked horns against each other on February 4 at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Rana bowled only a single over where he conceded 16 runs. As soon as he completed his over, the right-arm seamer felt discomfort in his knee and the physios quickly rushed out of the field. Rana underwent scans and now reports suggest that he has joint-tenderness, ruling him out of the T20 World Cup 2026.
Why Will India miss Harshit Rana in T20 World Cup 2026?
Harshit Rana made his India debut in January, 2025 and came late into the scheme of things for World Cup plans. Rana faced a lot of criticism and was labelled a product of favouritism. However, Harshit regained confidence and silenced the trolls right before the World Cup.
Talking about 2025, Rana has two wickets in three innings and there were doubts whether the KKR star would start for India in the World Cup or not. The Men in Blue have Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh in the team, but Rana's ability with the bat is unmatched, which also earned him the all-rounder status.
Notably, in the recently concluded ODI series against New Zealand, Rana stitched a crucial partnership with Virat Kohli and saved India from embarrassment in the 3rd and final game of the series.
Following Rana's injury, a section of fans have also criticised Gautam Gambhir and the management for pushing players in the warmup match that led to the injury.
Suryakumar Yadav speaks on Harshit Rana's injury
On the eve of T20 World Cup 2026, Suryakumar Yadav spoke to the press, where the India captain confirmed that Rana's injury does not look good.
" We shall definitely miss him if he misses out but we have enough options. We shall look at the replacements... which fast bowler is there. We shall pick the best one. I know there is the case of someone batting at No. 9 like Harshit but having said that the first 8 batsmen will do what then?! They have to bat," remarked SKY.
Mohammed Siraj named replacement
The 31-year-old was out of scheme of things for India and last played in July 2024 for the Men in Blue. Siraj was gutted to miss out on the World Cup, but destiny has brought him back into the scheme of things.
Notably, ICC has approved of the change and Siraj has also joined the camp in Mumbai.
India updated Squad for T20 World Cup 2026
India’s updated 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, Mohd. Siraj
