India's ODI squad has been bolstered by the addition of pace-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana for the third and final ODI of the series against Afghanistan. Rana has recovered from a right knee injury and is set to take field in the dead rubber ODI which will be played on June 20 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
“Mr Rana, who has completed his rehabilitation at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE), has linked up with the ODI squad in Chennai,” the BCCI said in a statement on June 19.
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Rana will be returning to action after a long absence. He got injured during a warm-up match before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. He was ruled out and replaced by Mohammed Siraj. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer was ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 as well. Navdeep Saini was signed as his replacement.
Rana was already named in India’s T20I squads for UK tour (Ireland and England). His previous ODI appearance was in January 2026 against New Zealand in home ODI series.
Rana can be considered as replacement of Hardik Pandya who faced a strain in his leg at the Centre of Excellence and got ruled out of the ODI series. Also, there is no official update on Nitish Kumar Reddy who missed the second ODI due to a 'sore left thigh'.
India’s updated squad for 3rd ODI vs Afghanistan
Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Harshit Rana.
Who will Rana replace in playing XI?
In his debut ODI series, Gurnoor Brar has taken three wickets each in both games. On his ODI debut in Lucknow, Prince Yadav claimed a couple of wickets. Arshdeep Singh has found form too, taking five wickets, including a three-fer in Lucknow ODI. Rana may replace either Prince or Arshdeep as Brar is not a part of the T20I series against Ireland and England. His presence will also give India's batting lineup more depth which they lacked in the previous game due to Reddy's injury.