Harshit Rana ruled out of T20 World Cup, Siraj named as replacement

India suffered a blow on the eve of their T20 World Cup opener with pacer Harshit Rana ruled out with a knee injury.

The BCCI named Mohammed Siraj as the replacement. Rana sustained an injury during the warm-up match against South Africa in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday.

"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," the BCCI said in a statement.

India still have a formidable squad led by Suryakumar Yadav. The pace attack will be led by Jasprit Bumrah and comprises Arshdeep Singh, who finished the recent T20I series against New Zealand with a fifer in the fifth match in Thiruvananthapuram.

India are the defending champions, having lifted the previous title in 2024 under the leadership of Rohit Sharma. India will begin against the United States of America on Saturday. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 pm.

India’s updated 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 Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj