New Delhi, June 18 (H.S.): Young fast bowler Harshit Rana has been included in India’s Test squad for the England tour as a backup player. He has already arrived in England with the main team and will be available for the first match of the Test series starting on June 20. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) provided this information late Tuesday night.The 23-year-old Rana made his Test debut last year against Australia, but he was not part of the 18-member main team announced for the five-Test series against England. However, he was part of the India A team and played in the first unofficial Test against England Lions in Canterbury.

Harshit Rana has played two Test matches, five ODIs, and one T20 International match so far. He traveled to Leeds by train with the other team members, where he was seen with the team.

Players like KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shardul Thakur, Dhruv Jurel, and Nitish Reddy were already in the UK with the India A team and had a good opportunity for match practice there. India played a sole practice match against India A in Beckenham as part of their preparations for the England tour.

The team is as follows:

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

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar