Indian pacer Harshit Rana, who was previously asked to stay back in England, has been officially added to the Indian squad ahead of the first Test against England. The first Test starts from June 20 at Headingley.
A BCCI official had previously confirmed that Harshit Rana will stay back with the national team as covers for a few players who were suffering with injury niggles. While the names of the players were not revealed, it has certainly been confirmed that Rana will indeed stay back with the national team for the Test series. Rana also travelled with the team to Leeds from London.
There are five specialist pacers in the Indian Test side that have been announced for the five-match series. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, and Arshdeep Singh are the specialist pacers with Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy as the fast-bowling all-rounders. Now with Harshit Rana added, the Indian team has eight pacers for the Test series.
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The BCCI also came out with a statement confirming Rana's addition to the Indian Test side.
"The Men's Selection Committee has added Harshit Rana to India's squad for the first Test in Leeds against England. Rana, who was a part of the India A squad has linked up with the team as India begin preparations for the first Test. The Five-match Test series kicks off at Headingley, Leeds on June 20, 2025" the BCCI statement read.
Harshit Rana Has Played Just Two Tests For India
Rana was part of the India A side that played warm-up games against the England Lions. He also played the intra-squad match in Beckenham recently. So far, he has played two Test matches for India taking four wickets.
Meanwhile, the Test series kicks off the WTC 2025-27 campaign for both teams. The first Test starts from June 20 at Headingley. The rest of the four Test matches will be played at Edgbaston (from July 2), at Lord's (from July 10), at Old Trafford in Manchester (from July 23) and finally at the Oval (from July 31).
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