Fast bowler Harshit Rana has joined India’s Test squad as a backup player and travelled with the team to Leeds for the first Test against England, scheduled to begin on June 20 at Headingley.
Rana, who made his debut in Australia last year, was not included in the original 18-member squad for the five-match series. The 23-year-old pacer from Delhi was part of the India A side and featured in the first unofficial Test against the England Lions in Canterbury.
“He has been added as cover and arrived in Leeds with the team today,” a BCCI source told PTI. Rana was seen exiting Leeds train station alongside the rest of the squad after travelling from London.
The Indian team played only one warm-up match before the series, an intra-squad fixture against India A at Beckenham.
Players like KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shardul Thakur, Dhruv Jurel, and Nitish Reddy travelled to the United Kingdom with the A team and gained useful match practice ahead of the Test series.
Rana has represented India in two Tests, five One-Day Internationals, and one T20 International.
