Harshit Rana earns callback to India’s squad for England Test

LONDON: Pacer Harshit Rana has been added to India’s Test squad for the series against England starting from July 20 onwards at Leeds.
Rana, who was part of the India A squad has linked up with the team India gear up for the series opener in Headingley, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed in a statement, as per ICC.

Rana made his debut on India’s tour of Australia in November 2024, and nabbed four wickets in his first Test in Perth – playing a pivotal role in India’s mammoth win by 295 runs.

The 23-year-old, was part of the India A lineup for the first unofficial Test against England Lions in Canterbury. Rana finished the game with a wicket and was also handy with the bat, as he struck two maximums off England spinner Rehan Ahmed.

He has also represented India in five ODIs, taking 10 wickets at an average of 20.70 and in his solitary T20I appearance against England, he took three wickets. Rana was also a part of India’s ICC Champions Trophy-winning squad this year.

The pacer’s last major assignment was the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), taking 15 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 29.86, with the best figures of 3/25.

He will accompany veteran Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna and Akash Deep in India’s pace attack, alongside all-rounders Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Led by newly-appointed skipper Shubman Gill, India are set to take on England in their first assignment of the upcoming ICC World Test Championship cycle in a much-anticipated five-match series.

The two sides last featured in a five-Test series in 2024, when India turned around a 1-0 deficit to clinch the series 4-1 at home.

The two-time WTC Finalists will be missing out on the services of seasoned batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who retired from the Test format last month.

India’s squad: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana. (ANI)