Harshit Rana Returns to India’s ODI Squad After Successful Recovery
Harshit Rana returns to India's ODI squad after recovering from knee surgery, boosting the pace attack ahead of Afghanistan clash.
India – and Harshit Rana after an extended injury layoff — have also received a huge boost ahead of the third ODI vs Afghanistan. The young pacer has been named in the squad for the third and final encounter of the three-match series to be played on June 20 at Chennai.
Rana has missed competitive cricket since February after injuring his knee during preparation for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 with India. It happened in a warm-up game against South Africa and needed surgery that kept him out of both the world cup and IPL 2026 season for Kolkata Knight Riders.
As per a press release from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Rana has successfully completed his rehabilitation at the Centre of Excellence which is based at the National Cricket Academy. He subsequently passed a fitness test, and has since joined the Indian squad in Chennai before the last Test of the series.
His return adds another fast bowling option to their pace-bowling resources and team management with the opportunity of preparing for the international assignments in future. Rana has grabbed eyeballs with fast bowling, aggressive cricket and those breakthroughs at the best moment.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya continues to be unavailable. While the BCCI has yet to make an official statement on his condition, reports indicated that he was struck by a leg strain during training at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. However, Pandya’s name was missing from the updated squad for the third ODI that was announced after India’s win in Asadabad on Friday.
You have already seen the ODI series against Afghanistan where India lead 2-0 in three-match contests with comprehensive wins at Dharamsala and Lucknow. The series already won, this last match could provide chances for fringe and returning players to make a stamp.
The revised Indian squad for the 3rd ODI consists of captain Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy (both batsmen), Washington Sundar (all-rounder)Kuldeep Yadav (Bowler)Arshdeep Singh Prasidh KrishnaPrince YadavGurnoor BrarHarsh Dubey and Pacemaker Harshit Rana-returning from injury.
Attention now turns to Rana as he bids to make a successful return in Indian colours after spending almost the past four months on the sidelines.
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