India’s luck with injuries has been terrible, as yet another star batsman has been ruled out of the three-match T20i series against Afghanistan. Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya were already ruled out of the series due to injuries, but opening batter Ruturaj Gaiwad has been ruled out due to a finger injury he suffered during India’s second ODI game against South Africa. But good news for Team India: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are back in the Indian T20I squad. Down below, Check out the full India squad against Afghanistan
The three-match T20i series against Afghanistan will start on Thursday, as the first T20i will take place on January 11. While Afghanistan has already announced their squad for the T20i series against India, the Men in Blue today announced their squad.
According to the news report on ESPNcricinfo, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav are expected to return to full fitness before the commencement of IPL 2024. SKY injured his ankle in the third T20i against South Africa while fielding, and he recently underwent ankle surgery. He is expected to return to training by February.
The T20i series against Afghanistan is the final T20i assignment of the Men in Blue before the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will start immediately after the end of IPL 2024. The selectors would have liked to have all the players available for selection, including Hardik Pandya, who got injured during India’s group stage match of the 2023 ODI World Cup against Bangladesh in Pune.
India announce their Squad for the T20i series against Afghanistan
The Selection Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Sunday, January 7, the 15-member Indian squad for the three-match T20 series against Afghanistan. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have made their comeback to the shortest format, with Rohit returning as the captain.
With the Test series against England set to begin right after the end of the T20 series against Afghanistan, there were doubts regarding the availability of main players such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, and Mohammed Siraj. The duo of Kohli and Rohit have not played any T20 internationals for India ever since the Men in Blue’s exit from the T20 World Cup 2022 with a humiliating defeat against champions England in the semi-final. While Rohit and Virat are back, others such as Rahul, Siraj, Jadeja, and Bumrah have been rested from the T20i series.
Wicket Keeper Sanju Samson has also been included in the squad for the Afghanistan series thanks to the century he scored in the 3rd ODI against South Africa. It remains to be seen whether he will get preference over Jitesh Sharma or not as the first-choice wicketkeeper. Ishan Kishan has not been selected as he continues with the break he took before the Test series against South Africa.
India’s T20i squad against Afghanistan: Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Tilak Verma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar.
Afghanistan’s Squad against India: Ibrahim Zadran (C), Ikram Alikhil (WK), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Rahmat Shah, Hazratullah Zazai, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Azmaullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, FazalHaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen Ul Haq, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem, Qais Ahmad, Rashid Khan and Gulbadin Naib.
India vs Afghanistan T20I Series 2024:
- January 11, 1st T20I, PCA Stadium, Mohali
- January 14, 2nd T20I, Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore
- January 17, 3rd T20I, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
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