Sanju Samson Returns, 10 Players OUT! Changes In Team India For Afghanistan T20Is From South Africa Test Series
A three-match Twenty20 International series between India and Afghanistan will begin on January 11. The Punjab Cricket Association’s IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali will host the series opener on Thursday. The remaining two games will be played in Indore and Bengaluru on January 14 and 17, respectively. Legends like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were named in India’s 16-man squad for the inaugural bilateral Twenty20 International Series (T20I) against Afghanistan, which was announced by the BCCI on Sunday, January 7.
The two players with the most runs scored in Twenty20 Internationals, Kohli and Rohit, have not represented India in any T20I international since their devastating 10-wicket loss to England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final, which took place in Adelaide on November 10, 2022. The pair is back in the lineup for India’s final Twenty20 International series before the Twenty20 World Cup 2024, which takes place in June. However, up to ten players who were a part of the Indian Test team in South Africa were not picked.
Here is a look at Team India’s full list of changes for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan ahead of the commencement of the bilateral series against the Ibrahim Zadran-led team.
OUT: Wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul, along with middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, are among the notable absentees, whereas it has been reported that the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah were rested for the shortest format series to keep them fresh for the upcoming five-match Test series against England. Apart from these modern-day greats, No. 1 Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin, pacers Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur, KS Bharat, and Abhimanyu Easwaran were ignored for the Afghanistan series.
IN: Sanju Samson has returned to the Indian T20I squad and will face Jitesh Sharma for a spot in the starting lineup. For the Afghanistan series, they will be joined by T20 star Rinku Singh, Mumbai Indians batsman Tilak Varma, spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi, all-rounders Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar, and pacer Arshdeep Singh.
Retained: Of the players from the South Africa Test series, only six players—captain Rohit, batting sensation Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan—managed to hold onto their spots for the home series against Afghanistan.
Unavailable: All-rounder Hardik Pandya, world No. 1 T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav, and Ruturaj Gaikwad were not available for selection due to injury-related issues.
India’s squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, 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
