The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 16-member T20I squad for three T20I series against Afghanistan. While big names Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returned to the T20I squad after 14 months, premier pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were rested ahead of the Test series against England. Even in the absence of injured senior players Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, plenty of others failed to make it into the squad.
Ravindra Jadeja
The all-rounder was named vice-captain for the T20I series against South Africa. Jadeja had a neck spasm which made him unavailable for selection for the Centurion Test but he replaced Ravichandran Ashwin for the Cape Town Test and did not bowl a single over.
The BCCI is yet to make it clear whether Jadeja has been rested or been left out. He registered scores of 19 and 4 in the two T20Is against South Africa. He remained wicketless in one of the T20Is and took two wickets of 25 runs in Johannesburg.
KL Rahul
Like Rohit and Kohli, Rahul has not played a single T20I since T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal exit. The injury kept him out of action for several months as well. He led India to an ODI series win but was not considered for T20Is. With Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the squad, the selectors did not include Rahul.
Shreyas Iyer
Iyer has been rested for the T20I series despite not playing a single big knock in the two-Test series against South Africa. Former cricketers including Sunil Gavaskar has raised questions over resting batters earlier as well. Iyer warmed the benches in the T20I series against South Africa. Earlier, in the T20I series against Australia, he scored one half-century in Bengaluru.
Deepak Chahar
Chahar was added to the T20I squad for the Australia series midway. He was named for the South Africa T20Is as well but had to fly back home due to a personal emergency. For the T20I series against Afghanistan, he was not considered for selection. In his T20I return, Chahar conceded 44 runs from his full quota of four overs and took the wickets of Tim David and Matthew Short in a losing cause.
Ishan Kishan
Kishan had opted out of the Test series against South Africa citing the need to take a break. The BCCI is yet to make it clear whether Kishan has opted out of the T20I series as well. In his absence, Sanju Samson has made a comeback into the T20I setup. The other wicketkeeper-batter in the side is Jitesh Sharma who is yet to deliver a notable performance in the international arena.
India’s T20I squad for 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, Mukesh Kumar
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