Young Indian pacer Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the forthcoming three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, which is scheduled to commence on Sunday, September 13, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Yash Thakur has been named his replacement.
Notably, Rana, who injured his hamstring during the recent England tour, is unlikely to be fit for the three-match T20I series. Interestingly, the young seamer has been ruled out of the Asian Games as well.
“He has not yet fully recovered from his hamstring injury. He will need more time,” said a BCCI source.
For the unversed, Rana sustained a Grade 1 right hamstring injury during the third T20I against England at Trent Bridge earlier this year. He missed the 2026 T20 World Cup and the IPL season after suffering a ligament strain in his right knee during a warm-up match against South Africa in February 2026.
On the other hand, the Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Nitish Reddy were also included in the India squad, subject to fitness. Bumrah has been out of action since India’s ODI tour to England in July with a left knee injury.
While Bumrah had an impact injury to his left knee, Reddy injured his left quadriceps. Notably, Bumrah is awaiting his fitness clearance from the CoE, while Nitish Kumar Reddy has passed the fitness test.
“Both Bumrah and Reddy are on track for their comeback,” the source added.
After the Afghanistan series, India plays a one-off game against Japan in Sano on Tuesday, September 22. Later, they kick off their Asian Games campaign on Monday, September 28.
India’s updated squad for Afghanistan T20Is: Shreyas Iyer [C], Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson [WK], Ishan Kishan [WK], Tilak Varma [VC], Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Yash Thakur
India squad for the 2026 Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (VC), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur
