BCCI announces India squad for Afghanistan series, Kohli and Rohit return to Squad. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are making a comeback to India’s T20I team after being away for over a year. They’ll be part of the team for the three-match series against Afghanistan, which is India’s final T20I series before the T20 World Cup in June. Rohit Sharma will lead the team as captain since Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, who filled in for him previously, are out due to injuries.
Both Rohit and Kohli haven’t played T20Is since India lost in the semi-finals to England in the T20 World Cup in November 2022. They chose to focus on Test matches and ODIs leading up to other major events. Their recent inclusion in the T20I squad indicates that selectors are considering them for the T20 World Cup scheduled in the West Indies and the USA.
Since the 2022 T20 World Cup, Hardik Pandya has been the primary captain for India in T20Is. However, after he suffered an ankle injury during the 2023 ODI World Cup, Suryakumar Yadav took over the leadership. Suryakumar captained India in the T20I series against Australia and in the subsequent matches in South Africa in December. Unfortunately, an ankle injury Suryakumar sustained in South Africa will sideline him for a few months. Fans anticipate that both Hardik and Suryakumar will return during the IPL season in March.
After the T20I series against Afghanistan scheduled for January 11, 14, and 17, India will engage in a five-Test series against England starting January 25. Post this series, players will transition to their respective IPL teams for the 2024 season. The IPL is set to conclude just a few weeks before the T20 World Cup kicks off on June 1.
Team India T20I Squad For Series vs Afghanistan
Arshdeep Singh, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson (wk), Virat Kohli, Mukesh Kumar, Rinku Singh, Avesh Khan, Tilak Varma, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav, Rohit Sharma (capt), and Jitesh Sharma (wk).
Afghanistan T20I Squad
Rashid Khan, Hazratullah Zazai, Naveen Ul Haq, Rahmat Shah, Mohammad Nabi, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Karim Janat, Najibullah Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Ikram Alikhil (WK), Noor Ahmad, Azmaullah Omarzai, Fareed Ahmad, Ibrahim Zadran (C), Mohammad Saleem, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Qais Ahmad, and Sharafuddin Ashraf.
Also Read: T20 World Cup 2024 Pakistan Schedule: Fixtures, Venues And Dates
India vs Afghanistan T20I Schedule
The series against Afghanistan is set to kick off on January 11. The first T20I will take place at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali, followed by the second match on January 14 in Indore. The series will conclude with the third and final T20I on January 17 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
