The Indian pacer Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the entire Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 tournament after sustaining a knee injury during a warm-up game.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj has been named as the replacement and will be joining India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad ahead of the opening game against the USA.

Harshit Rana’s injury came from warm up game against South Africa on February 04 and was seen in discomfort when he was bowling his over, and after completing it, he walked off the field and did not participate further in the contest.

He bowled only one over, where he gave away 16 runs. “Following consultations with a specialist and subsequent scans, the BCCI medical team deemed him unfit to participate in the tournament. The team management wishes him a speedy recovery.”

India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav admitted that Harshit Rana was ‘not looking good’.

“Team India pacer Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 after sustaining a knee injury during the warm-up match against South Africa in Navi Mumbai on February 4, 2026.”

“Following consultations with a specialist and subsequent scans, the BCCI medical team deemed him unfit to participate in the tournament. The team management wishes him a speedy recovery. Mohd. Siraj will join the team as Harshit’s replacement in the squad,” said the BCCI statement.

Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav’s admission had all but confirmed that Rana was unlikely to recover in time for the tournament.

“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.

However, he attempted to play down the setback. “Don’t worry, we have 11 players for tomorrow. But it obviously would be a big blow because you pick a squad of 15 after a lot of thought, and he was included following a detailed process,” Suryakumar said.

“But if he is not available going forward, we will look at different combinations. We have enough players and options for all teams in this tournament, but if he is not available, we will definitely miss him,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj has been out of T20I action since July 2024, which also marked the beginning of Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as head coach.

He has played 16 T20Is for India, taking 14 wickets. He was confirmed as the replacement for Rana after being given the go-ahead by the Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.

India Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (VC), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun ChakaravarthyWashington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj