Big blow for Team India ahead of the series against Afghanistan as two star players ruled out of series. Take a look and read the full story.
Published: May 1, 2026 10:55 PM IST
After the Indian Premier League 2026, Team India will play an international series. This will be important for the players to stay in form and get ready for the upcoming big tournaments.
Ahead of the series, there’s a big blow for the Indian team. India will miss two of their main fast bowlers, Akash Deep and Harshit Rana, in the upcoming home series against Afghanistan and the white-ball tour of the UK. According to PTI, both players are still not fully fit and will need more time before they can return to match action.
As per reports from sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Akash Deep is still recovering from a serious back injury he picked up before IPL 2026. Meanwhile, Harshit Rana is going through rehab after knee surgery for a ligament injury he suffered in a warm-up match before the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup in India. Due to these injuries, both players also missed the Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL season.
Both players are improving, but they are still not ready to play matches yet. The medical team is helping them get stronger step by step. Right now, they are doing light work like jogging, then they will slowly move to sprinting and later return to proper training. Reports also say that Akash Deep may take more time to recover compared to Harshit Rana.
“Akash and Harshit’s rehabilitation is on track but there is still a long way to go before they can be released to play matches. If we are talking about Afghanistan and the UK tour, there is no chance of both of them getting fit before that. They are still doing strengthening routines. After that there will be jogging, strides, sprints and then skills associated with ‘Return To Play’ (RTP) protocols,” the report quoted.
Right now, both bowlers are expected to return to cricket around the Duleep Trophy, which usually starts India’s domestic season in August.
Akash Deep is mainly known as a Test (red-ball) bowler for the national team. On the other hand, Harshit Rana is one of the few players who can play all formats in the current team under coach Gautam Gambhir.
The series will start with a one-off Test match from June 6 to 10, 2026, in New Chandigarh, beginning at 9:30 AM IST. After that, the ODI series will begin on June 14 in Dharamshala at 1:30 PM IST. The second ODI will be played on June 17 in Lucknow, followed by the third and final ODI on June 20 in Chennai, with both matches starting at 1:30 PM IST.
India’s tour of England 2026 will start with the T20I series on July 1 in Chester-le-Street at 11:00 PM IST. The second match will be on July 4 in Manchester at 7:00 PM IST, followed by the third on July 7 in Nottingham at 11:00 PM IST. The fourth T20I will be played on July 9 in Bristol, and the fifth on July 11 in Southampton, both at 11:00 PM IST. After that, the ODI series will begin on July 14 in Birmingham at 5:30 PM IST. The second ODI will be on July 16 in Cardiff at 5:30 PM IST, and the final ODI will be played on July 19 in London at 3:30 PM IST.
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