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India suffered a tough defeat against England in the first Test of a five-match series at Headingley, Leeds. Despite setting a target of 371 runs, the Indian bowlers couldn’t put England batters in pressure as Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett put up a strong opening partnership of 188 runs. Even after India got a few wickets in the middle, it wasn’t enough as the match went far away for the visitors.
The Indian bowling didn’t look effective in the second innings of the first Test where Jasprit Bumrah, who took a five-wicket haul in the first innings went wicketless. Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna took two wickets each but couldn’t make an impact in the match. Now, a day after the first Test, fast bowler Harshit Rana, who joined the Indian team for England tour in the last moment, has been released from the squad as per the report by Times of India.
Harshit Rana didn’t travel to Birmingham with Indian team
The rumours of Harshit Rana’s exclusion from the squad occurred when the the fast bowler was seen boarding the team bus as the Indian players were heading to Birmingham for the second Test. The second match of the series will be played at Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham from July 2 to 6. The Indian players will now rest for two days before starting preparations for the Birmingham Test.
After the first Test, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir said that the management called Rana for backup as there was niggle in the group. “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 said at the post-match press conference.
