India's senior pacer Mohammed Siraj has been declared fit ahead of the one-off Test against Afghanistan. India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate confirmed Siraj's participation in the one-off Test on June 4.
Ten Doeschate also confirmed that India will go with three spinners in the Test. Alongside Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar, either Manav Suthar or Harsh Dubey will make their Test debut.
“Mohammed Siraj is fit and good to go. As far as two new spinners (Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey) are concerned, there is small chance that both will play. We haven't finalised who among the two will play alongside Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar,” Doeschate told the media.
Siraj’s workload was an issue as he had played all 17 matches for Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. After getting the clearance, he is set to lead the pace attack in New Chandigarh.
No maiden call-up for Auqib Nabi
Earlier, there were reports that if Siraj isn’t fit for the Test, Auqib Nabi may get his maiden Test call-up. Jammu & Kashmir pacer Nabi is one of the six net bowlers in New Chandigarh who are helping Indian batters train for the one-off Test.
Suthar, Dubey's first-class statistics
23-year-old Suthar has played 29 first-class games, claiming 129 wickets at an average of 25.76, featuring six fifers. He is handy with the bat down the order, scoring 945 runs from 48 innings at an average of 25.54, including a century and six fifties. Recently, he played four games for Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 and claimed three wickets.
Dubey has played 27 first-class games and bagged 133 wickets, averaging 23.26, featuring nine fifers. He can contribute with the bat too. From 44 innings, he has 1,026 runs at an average of 25.65. He has crossed the fifty-run mark nine times in red-ball cricket. In the recently-concluded IPL 2026, he had 13 scalps from 11 outings for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).