Seam-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana has been dropped from India's side in preparation for the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series, as the team heads to Birmingham. Sources from IANS claim that Rana is flying back to India straight from Leeds.
Rana had originally been added to the team due to the first Test at Headingley, which England won with a five-wicket win after pursuing a demanding 371-run total on a captivating last day.
"Indeed, one of the pacers in the A-list Test squad had a niggle. If the team brain trust wanted to have a spare bowler who could implement a bouncer-dominated strategy, it was Rana who filled the slot and was therefore kept back," sources informed IANS.
But everything is alright now as it is. Consequently, Rana has now been dropped from the squad, and that's the reason he was not seen with the team during their tour to Birmingham," the sources further added.
Rana played his Test debut in India's tour of Australia in last Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where he picked four wickets with a batting average of 50.75, including best bowling figures of 3/48 in Perth. In the ongoing tour, he played for the India 'A' team in their first match against England Lions at Canterbury and ended with 1/99 and 16 runs.
The Indian squad, under the leadership of Shubman Gill, departed on Wednesday and will have Thursday off before recommencing training on Friday to prepare for the second Test, which will start on July 2 at Edgbaston.
Having lost a 1-0 advantage in the five-match series, India will seek to bounce back after the defeat in Leeds — a game where they notched five centuries and a five-wicket return but still lost.
The series is India's first campaign in the 2025–27 cycle of the ICC World Test Championship.
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