Harshit Rana was back in the India ODI squad after recovering from the knee injury, which kept him out of action for several months. His inclusion in India’s XI comes just for the third and final ODI against Afghanistan, which is scheduled to be played at Chennai on June 20.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) stated that Rana completed his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy’s Centre of Excellence and has joined the Indian team for the series finale.
Rana last played an international match in February. He is making his return from a long recovery phase after he sustained a knee injury during a preparation game against South Africa ahead of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. It kept him out of the tournament and he had surgery ruled out of IPL 2026 for Kolkata Knight Riders as well.
Meanwhile, the all-rounder Hardik Pandya was not given a place in the updated squad announcement. The BCCI is yet to make an announcement over the injury but Pandya was reportedly hurt while he was undergoing training at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru ahead of the Afghanistan series.
India have already clinched the three-match ODI series versus Afghanistan after winning both their games in Dharamsala and Lucknow. The hosts lead the series 2-0 with two matches left in Chennai, while Afghanistan will be hoping to have a last hurrah on the tour.
With the team currently keen to build more depth and learn from the recent tour, Rana is a welcome return for India’s pace attack as they face their next international assignment. It will be interesting to see how the young fast bowler fares after spending months recovering from injury, and fans will definitely want to keep an eye out.
