India pacer sent home after defeat to England in first Test: ‘He will have to fly back’

A day after India lost to England in the first Test of the five-match series, pacer Harshit Rana was reportedly released from the squad. According to a Times of India report, Harshit Rana did not travel with the rest of the squad members, who left for Birmingham, the venue of the second Test, on Wednesday. India’s squad departed from Leeds by bus around 11:30 am local time. Mohammed Siraj with Harshit Rana (R)

Rana was added to the main squad barely a couple of days before the series opener of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. He was part of the India A side that played two first-class matches England Lions and was asked to stay back with the main squad as a backup pacer.

This comes a day after head coach Gautam Gambhir had dropped a hint about Rana's release from the squad. "I haven't spoken to the chairman selector; I will speak to the chairman of selectors because there was a bit of a niggle in the group. That is why we wanted him as a backup,” Gambhir had said on Rana following India’s defeat in the first Test. But at the moment, everything looks fine, so if everyone is fine, he would have to fly back," Gambhir said.

Rana made his debut in Australia and was preferred over Prasidh Krishna at the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He also produced a good show in he first innings, picking three wickets but his inability to maintain the same level of consistency in the second innings and then in the next Test, made India look for other options.

Barring Jasprit Bumrah, who got five wickets in England's first innings, none of the other bowlers looked penetrative as the hosts chased down a target of 371 with minimum fuss on the fifth and final day of the match on Tuesday.

The pace trio of Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur was not consistent enough with the line and length.

"We will have to give them time. Earlier, we used to have four fast bowlers in the squad with an experience of more than 40 Tests. It doesn't make such a big impact in one-day or T20 matches, but when you go to Australia, England, or South Africa for Tests, experience matters," said Gambhir following the loss.

"These are early days. If we start judging our bowlers after every Test, how will we develop a bowling attack? Outside Bumrah and Siraj, we don't have that much experience, but they (the others) have quality, which is why they are in this dressing room.

"But we have got to keep backing them because it's not about one tour. It's about building a fast-bowler battery that can serve India for a long time in Test cricket."

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