India's injury woes deepen as Harshit Rana suffers fresh scare ahead of T20 World Cup

Harshit Rana walked off the field during the T20 World Cup warm-up match against South Africa in Navi Mumbai.

While the Indian camp awaits the update on Washington Sundar ahead of the T20 World Cup, the defending champions received a fresh jolt on Wednesday evening after pacer Harshit Rana walked off the field midway through the warm-up match against South Africa at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai. The 24-year-old bowled just one over in the game, conceding 16 runs. The pacer was seen limping off the field immediately after completing his opening over of the warm-up tie.

Harshit Rana walked off the field on Wednesday (PTI)

The Delhi pacer was seen in discomfort when he was bowling the over, as he pulled out of his delivery stride on two different occasions. He was then seen clutching his knee in distress, and it was then that he hobbled off the field, ending his participation in the contest.

An official statement from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is awaited. Sundar, who suffered an injury in the first ODI against New Zealand, is yet to join the Indian camp for the World Cup, and it remains to be seen whether he can recover in time.

Tilak Varma has recovered from his injury, and he joined the team for the warm-up match against the Proteas, where he scored 45 runs before being bowled by Marco Jansen. He also bowled one over, conceding just nine runs.

Suryakumar Yadav and his team came out on top in the warm-up match, defeating South Africa by 30 runs.

How did the warm-up match go?

The warm-up fixture between India and South Africa saw India win the toss and opt to bat. The side posted 240/6 in 20 overs. Ishan Kishan top-scored with 53 while Axar Patel (35*), Suryakumar Yadav (30) and Hardik Pandya (30) also got among the runs.

Abhishek Sharma returned with two wickets while Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar all took one wicket each as India restricted South Africa to 210/7, winning the match by 30 runs.

India are in Group A for the T20 World Cup, alongside Pakistan, Namibia, the Netherlands and the USA. The defending champions will begin their title defence on Saturday, February 7, against the USA.