The ongoing T20I series between India and England has gone from bad to worse for the visitors. Ahead of their must-win game in Bristol, the Indian cricket team has lost both Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy due to hamstring injuries. They aren’t just out of the fourth T20I but won’t take part further in the series.
Meanwhile, India bring in Washington Sundar and Prasidh Krishna as replacements in the starting lineup in the fourth T20 international. Since 2025, teams that have won the toss chose to bat first only thrice in 12 games at this venue. Regardless, Shreyas Iyer opted to bat first, with the pressure of being 0-2 behind in the series back in his mind.
India’s Playing XI for 4th T20I vs England
Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna
Blow for Iyer’s India
Shreyas Iyer’s era as India’s new T20I captain has gotten off to the worst possible start. If a series loss to Ireland wasn’t enough, India have not managed to win a single T20I in England so far, with just two matches remaining. The Men in Blue cannot win the series anymore. They need to win both the remaining games in order to save the series. India last lost two back-to-back T20I bilaterals back in 2019.
Now, on top of that, the side has lost two crucial players in Harshit and Chakaravarthy. They didn’t light up the series yet but were extremely important as far as the team combination is concerned. Rana played as a second pacer alongside Arshdeep Singh and is perfect for a number-eight batter. Chakaravarthy, meanwhile, is number one in terms of specialist spinner.
Already injury issues to Harshit Rana & Varun Chakaravarthy
However, we would hope that neither player remains out for long. In fact, both Harshit and Chakaravarthy came into this UK tour on the back of injury layoffs. After agonisingly missing India’s T20 World Cup 2026 win as a player and the IPL 2026 campaign with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rana made a marvellous return in the Ireland series. In the only T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up game against South Africa, the exciting Delhi pacer felt some discomfort in his right leg and walked off the field. Later, it turned out that he had severe ligament strain before undergoing a knee surgery in Mumbai.
He remained on the sidelines for nearly 150 days. He remains incredibly crucial to India’s white-ball plans, as he is also part of India’s ODI series as well that will beckon from July 14 onwards. The BCCI would hope he gets fit by then.
Similarly, Chakaravarthy had his injury struggles as well. He missed the Ireland series before making a comeback in these England T20Is. He last featured in the IPL 2026, where he picked up two injuries and still kept turning out for KK. After the T20 World Cup 2026, he fractured two bowling fingers.
Then in May, things got worse. Ishan Kishan hit him on the foot during KKR vs SRH and he ended up with a hairline fracture in his left toe. That was the scarier one. He missed the next two games but came back quickly and played on. In total he played 11 matches through all of that and took 11 wickets at an economy of 8.78. It was his worst IPL since 2022. What’s bewildering is how the injury was handled. The BCCI medical team was in touch with KKR’s management and physio. KKR also told the BCCI about Chakaravarthy’s injury. But the board didn’t step in, because KKR didn’t pass on the right medical advice.
Cricket
Harshit Rana & Varun Chakaravarthy ruled out of IND vs ENG T20Is with hamstring injuries
