Gautam Gambhir's 'IPL Retention' Verdict On Rumours Of Harshit Rana Playing 3rd Test vs New Zealand

India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Thursday confirmed that uncapped seamer Harshit Rana will not take part in the upcoming third Test match against New Zealand in Mumbai. According to a report by ESPN on Tuesday, Harshit Rana was added to the India squad for the third Test match against New Zealand. However, India's coach cleared the rumours ahead of the third Test. Harshit Rana has been with India's white-ball teams ever since a breakout Indian Premier League (IPL) season in 2024 with champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), in which the pacer took 19 wickets at an average of 20.15 in 13 matches.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Gambhir said that Rana has not been included in the Test squad. The India head coach added that the 22-year-old has come to Mumbai to work with bowling coach Morne Morkel and prepare for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar trophy.

He added that the team management wants to use this time and make Rana prepared for the BGT.

"Harshit Rana is not part of the squad. He has just come here to prepare for the Australia tour, Abhishek (Nayar) made it clear yesterday. IPL retention has nothing to be spoken about, we have a Test match here," Gambhir said.

The third Test is set to begin at Wankhede, Mumbai, on Friday, the same venue where New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel famously claimed 10 wickets in an innings.

India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Dhruv Jurel, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.

New Zealand Squad: Tom Latham (C), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (WK), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell