India's Pacer Rana Released Before Second Test Against England in Birmingham

India take on England (AP Photo)

Leeds: Indian fast bowler Harshit Rana has been released from the Test squad before the second match of the five-Test series against England.

The young bowler, initially called up as a precautionary measure, was not seen boarding the bus to Birmingham with his teammates. The Indian squad departed from Leeds around 11:30 am local time, with an expected journey time of just over three hours to Birmingham.

The team is scheduled to rest for two days before resuming training. They aim to level the series in the second Test and move on from their Headingley disappointment.

Following India's defeat in the first Test, Gautam Gambhir commented on Rana's inclusion, stating, "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."

He added, "But at the moment, everything looks fine, so if everyone is fine, he would have to fly back."

India's loss at Headingley, despite a strong batting performance with 835 runs and five individual centuries, has been a talking point.

Notably, it marked the first instance in Test history where a team suffered a defeat despite scoring five centuries in the match.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant (twice) all achieved centuries, but England successfully chased down a target of 371, securing a five-wicket victory on the final day.

Ben Duckett’s aggressive 149 laid the foundation for the record chase, with valuable contributions from Crawley and Root. The combined total of 1673 runs between the two teams set a new record for the highest-scoring Test match between India and England.

India will face England in the second Test at Edgbaston on July 2.