Harshit Rana Ruled Out Of Afghanistan T20Is And Asian Games As Yash Thakur Steps In

Harshit Rana has been ruled out of India's three-match T20 international series against Afghanistan and the 2026 Asian Games. Yash Thakur replaces him in both squads. Rana was hurt bowling in a match simulation on 7 September. He had been picked for both assignments subject to a fitness clearance he never got.

The series starts in New Delhi on Sunday. The Asian Games follow in Japan two days after it ends. India named a 15-man squad for Afghanistan earlier this month, and Rana was on that list with a fitness caveat beside his name.

The BCCI wording on the injury

The board said Rana "sustained a rectus femoris strain while bowling during a match simulation on September 7", according to the Free Press Journal and Social News XYZ. The rectus femoris is a quadriceps muscle. The session took place at the BCCI Centre of Excellence. The ICC and the Express Tribune both described the problem as a fresh hamstring strain, so the two accounts of the muscle involved do not agree. No return date has been given.

A third setback in 2026

This is the third injury to interrupt Rana's 2026. A knee problem came before the T20 World Cup. A hamstring strain followed on India's tour of England in July. He was still working back from that when the latest one arrived. The simulation on 7 September was part of that return. Rana was born in December 2001 and turns 25 this year.

Thakur's two caps in Zimbabwe

Thakur is 27. He made his T20 international debut on India's Zimbabwe tour in July and took two wickets in each of his two appearances. He was left out when the Afghanistan squad was first announced. He is back in it now, and in the Asian Games party as well. Four wickets in two matches is the whole of his international record so far.

Delhi first, then Aichi-Nagoya

Shreyas Iyer captains the side for Afghanistan. Jasprit Bumrah, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar were all listed subject to fitness when the squad was named. The calendar is tight.

• First T20I v Afghanistan: Sunday 13 September, New Delhi
• Second T20I v Afghanistan: Tuesday 15 September, New Delhi
• Third T20I v Afghanistan: Thursday 17 September, New Delhi
• Asian Games cricket begins: Saturday 19 September, Aichi-Nagoya
• India's Asian Games quarter-final: Monday 28 September

Afghanistan play three matches in five days in Delhi. Two days then separate the last of them from the start of the Games. Thakur has gone from outside the squad to inside two of them in a week. Rana watches both from the treatment room.