Mohammed Siraj replaces injured Harshit Rana in India's squad

Mohammed Siraj will replace Harshit Rana in India's squad for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, starting on February 7. Rana was ruled out after sustaining a knee injury during India's warm-up fixture against South Africa in Navi Mumbai on February 4.

Following scans and specialist consultation, the BCCI medical team deemed him unfit for the tournament.

Captain Suryakumar Yadav addressed the replacement decision, noting Rana's batting abilities lower down the order were a consideration.

"(That it's a) big blow is obvious. You make the squad with a lot of combinations in mind. If he's not available, then we'll set other combinations," Suryakumar said.

"We have enough players and combinations. But if we miss him, we'll definitely miss him. We'll see which fast bowlers have done really well for the last 1 or 2 years and who can bat as well. But there's no hard and fast rule that he has to bat. We do have a few options, we'll pick the best one."

The selection is Mohammed Siraj, who last played a T20I on July 30, 2024, against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. The 31-year-old, recently in action for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy, will join the squad shortly.

India's updated World Cup 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 and Mohammed Siraj.