India suffered an early setback to their T20 World Cup campaign on Friday as young fast bowler Harshit Rana was ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury sustained during a warm-up match, with Mohammed Siraj named as his replacement, according to BCCI sources.
Rana picked up the injury during India’s warm-up game against South Africa, where he managed to bowl just one over, conceding 16 runs, before hobbling off the field. The 24-year-old’s condition raised immediate concerns, which were later confirmed by captain Suryakumar Yadav on the eve of India’s tournament opener against the USA.
“Harshit Rana has not been ruled out yet, the physios are assessing him but he does not look good,” Suryakumar said at the pre-match press conference on Friday, indicating that the pacer was unlikely to recover in time.
Although Suryakumar attempted to downplay the impact of the injury, he acknowledged that Rana’s absence would disrupt the team’s planning.
“Don’t worry, we have 11 players for tomorrow. But it obviously would be a big blow because you make a squad of 15 after a lot of thought and he was included after some thought process,” the India skipper said.
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“But if he is not available going forward, we will then set different combinations. We have enough players and combinations against all teams that we can have for this tournament but if we miss him (for not being available), we will definitely miss him,” he added.
Rana, who has featured in nine T20 Internationals with an economy rate of 10.60, was not a guaranteed starter but was viewed as a useful option in certain conditions. His ability to contribute with the bat in the lower order also added balance to the squad.
In his absence, experienced pacer Mohammed Siraj has been drafted into the team. Other fast-bowling options available to the team management include Prasidh Krishna.
India’s injury concerns were compounded by doubts over all-rounder Washington Sundar, who is nursing a side strain and rib muscle tear.
“We will see which (other) fast bowlers have done really well for the last one or two years or if there is any bowler who can bat as well,” Suryakumar said while discussing possible combinations.
“But there is no hard and fast rule that he can bat, because if you are expecting someone at No.9 or No.10 to come out and hit a six, then what are the other eight (players) doing before him? We will see, we do have a few options but we will pick the best one,” he added.
India open their T20 World Cup campaign against the USA on Saturday.
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