India suffered a major setback on the eve of the T20 World Cup 2026, with pacer Harshit Rana unlikely to feature in the tournament after sustaining an injury during the warm-up match against South Africa. The concern was flagged by captain Suryakumar Yadav, who said the fast bowler “is not looking good”.
Rana picked up the injury during India’s warm-up clash against the Proteas on 4 February, hobbling off the field after conceding 16 runs in the lone over he bowled. While Suryakumar stopped short of officially ruling him out, sources within the team management indicated that the Delhi pacer is unlikely to recover in time to take part in the competition.
“Don't worry, we have 11 players for tomorrow. But it obviously would be a big blow because you make a squad of 15 after a lot of thought, and he was included after some thought process,” Suryakumar said on Friday during the pre-match press conference in Mumbai.
Although the BCCI has yet to release an update on Rana, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami can be considered replacements for the 24-year-old. India starts its campaign against the United States of America (USA) at the Wankhede Stadium on 7 February.
Mohammed Siraj looks frontrunner
According to an Indian Express report, Siraj looks to be the frontrunner to replace Rana in the T20 World Cup 2026. A member of India's T20 World Cup-winning side in 2024, Siraj is a hit-the-deck bowler just like Rana and can swing the new ball and along with an ability to bowl consistent yorkers at death. The Hyderabad pacer has been among the wickets in recent times both for the national team and domestically.
Unlike in Tests and ODIs, Siraj is not a regular for India in the shortest format of the game, and last played a T20I back in 2024 against Sri Lanka.
Will India recall Mohammed Shami?
Another option for India is veteran Mohammed Shami, who has been ignored since the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. An experienced campaigner, especially in the ICC tournaments, Shami's ability to bat down the order will give the Men in Blue an added option. With 16 wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, 15 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and 28 in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, the Bengal pacer is in red-hot form.
In fact, Shami took a seven-wicket haul for India in the 2023 ODI World Cup semifinal against New Zealand. However, despite proving his credentials time and again in domestic cricket, the right-arm pacer has been ignored by the Indian selectors.
