India’s T20 squad for the home series against Afghanistan has seen the return of regular skipper Rohit Sharma and stalwart Virat Kohli after a year’s absence from the format. This follows speculation about their future in T20 cricket.
Rohit and Kohli have not played in T20 Internationals since India’s defeat to England in the semi-finals of the World Cup in Australia in November 2022. While they have been playing in other formats, there was uncertainty about their participation in the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States in June.
Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, who shared the T20 captaincy in Rohit’s absence, were left out of the series against Afghanistan due to reported injuries. However, the Indian cricket board did not offer any explanation for the omissions or inclusions in its statement on Sunday.
Wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul was also left out of the squad, adding to the mysteries surrounding the selection. Additionally, pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have been rested, purportedly to keep them fresh ahead of the upcoming five-test home series against England beginning later this month.
The series against Afghanistan will commence in Mohali on Jan. 11, with matches in Indore and Bengaluru to follow.
The India T20 squad for the series against Afghanistan includes Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, and Mukesh Kumar.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Shri Navaratnam)
