Mumbai, Feb 6 (IANS) Ahead of defending champions India kicking off their Men’s T20 World Cup title defence against the USA at the Wankhede Stadium, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav reflected on seam-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana’s injury scare, saying the side will wait for a final word, but he admitted his current situation isn’t encouraging.

Rana, who has nine T20I caps so far, suffered a knee injury during India’s warm-up match against South Africa at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday. He was seen limping off the field during their warm-up match after bowling one over, where he conceded 16 runs.

“He is not ruled out of the tournament as of now. He was not looking good after the warm-up match against South Africa. We will wait for the final word on him, but at this moment it is not looking good,” said Suryakumar in the pre-match press conference.

He acknowledged Rana’s injury is a big setback to their plans but stressed that the team had contingency plans. “Don’t worry, we have eleven players. We have worked out our combinations with him (Harshit Rana) in mind, so if he is not available, we will work out other combinations with whoever is available. It is a setback,” said Suryakumar.

Meanwhile, sources told IANS that Rana is ruled out of the tournament, though there’s no definitive word on who will be called as his replacement. “Yes, Rana is out of the World Cup. As of now, no word on his replacement yet,” added the sources.

When asked if the Indian team was exploring options for his replacement, Suryakumar said, “We will see who can replace him through the fast bowlers who have done well and the fast bowlers who can bat too, but no such hard and fast rules. We do have a few options.”

–IANS

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