Harshit Rana added to India squad for England Tests as unofficial backup

LEEDS: Right-arm pacer Harshit Rana has been retained as an unofficial member of India's squad for the five-match away Test series against England, international media reported on Tuesday.

According to a report, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to retain Rana in England as the unofficial member as some of the touring side’s players were having niggles.

Although the names of the players dealing with niggles remained undisclosed, it was reported that Rana travelled with the team to Leeds, which is scheduled to host the first Test from June 20 to 24.

"Please don't count him as an official member of the squad as yet," the cricket news website quoted a top BCCI official as saying.

Rana, who has featured in two Tests, five ODIs and one T20I, was part of the India A squad that played two matches against England Lions and also appeared in a closed-door intra-squad match in Beckenham recently.

For the unversed, the upcoming series holds significant importance for India as it will kick off their ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 campaign and will also embark on a new era under the leadership of Shubman Gill following the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

India squad for England Tests:

Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akashdeep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.

Schedule for India’s tour of England 2025:

1st Test: June 20–24 (Leeds)

2nd Test: July 02–06 (Birmingham)

3rd Test: July 10–14 (Lord’s)

4th Test: July 23–27 (Manchester)

5th Test: July 31–August 04 – (The Oval)