The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee may consider resting India's all-format players involved in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 for the one-off Test against Afghanistan. Ahead of a jam-packed schedule, the decision might be based on how far the Test players' teams progress in the IPL.
As per a report by TOI, the selectors are monitoring the Test players and their fitness. The main point behind resting the Test players is that there are no World Test Championship (WTC) points on offer. This might mean that skipper Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and the other Test players might skip the Afghanistan Test. For example, if Gujarat Titans (GT) and Mumbai Indians (MI) progress to the playoffs, then Gill, Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj may get rested.
However, the likes of Sai Sudharsan may get a chance considering he is not a part of ODI or the T20I squad. Not just because the one-off Test isn’t part of the ongoing WTC cycle, selectors will be looking at players who will be busy preparing for the ODI World Cup 2027 and bound to play plenty of bilateral series leading up to it.
While Bumrah is most likely to be rested irrespective of whether MI reaches the playoffs or not, Gill may lead against Afghanistan. The skipper wasn't a part of T20 World Cup 2026 squad. Also, he would like to have some red-ball practice ahead of crucial WTC matches. He may take the final call himself.
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The league stage of the IPL 2026 ends on May 24. Test players whose teams don’t make it to playoffs may don the whites against Afghanistan.
"There is not much gap between the IPL final and the Afghanistan Test, so the selectors and management will be wary of not burning out the players, as there are three ODIs, then the white-ball series in England,” a source close to the developments told the English daily.
"There are no WTC points in the Afghanistan Test, and the stakeholders need to carefully manage the workload because some of the players would be on the road for close to two months and have a lot of cricket in the remainder of the year.
"ODIs and WTC are priority right now, and you want your best players to be fit, fresh and available for the four Tests - two vs Sri Lanka and two vs New Zealand - and the many ODIs. Why even risk a Bumrah for this Test?"
Domestic performers to get maiden Test cap?
In the absence of regular Test players, some domestic players may get Test experience. Left-arm pacer Gurnoor Brar, left-arm spinner Manav Suthar, Jammu & Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi may get their maiden call-ups. Also, Nitish Kumar Reddy remains in contention after adding extra pace. Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey is also a part of the discussion.
Team India’s busy schedule ahead
However, the bigwigs are expected to be picked for the three-ODI series against Afghanistan which begins on June 14. It will be followed by two T20Is against Ireland before taking on England in white-ball series including three ODIs and as many T20Is. Then, India will tour Zimbabwe for a three-T20I series. It is likely that India may test out IPL talents in the T20I series and rest all-format players.