India T20I squad for Afghanistan series: Rohit, Kohli back ahead of World Cup
The squad has two wicketkeepers, Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returned to the India T20I squad for the three-match home series against Afghanistan. This signals a big move by the selectors ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The squad was announced on Sunday (January 7).
As expected, Rohit is back to lead the T20I squad. Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya are ruled out due to injuries, and so is Ruturaj Gaikwad. Suryakumar led the side in South Africa.
Rohit and Kohli have not played for India in T20Is since the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal loss to England in Australia on November 10, 2022.
The 16-man squad has two wicketkeepers, Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma. There is no place for Ishan Kishan, and KL Rahul, who was India's wicketkeeper in the recently concluded Test series in South Africa.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are also not part of the squad. Also missing are Ravindra Jadeja, who was the team's vice-captain in South Africa T20Is, and Shreyas Iyer.
The media advisory from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) did not mention how long Suryakumar, Hardik, and Ruturaj would be out of action due to injuries.
Also, there was no mention of why Bumrah and Siraj were not picked by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel. However, the duo is likely rested with the upcoming five-Test home series against England in mind.
The first T20I is on January 11 (Thursday) in Mohali. The second and third T20Is are in Indore (January 14, Sunday) and Bengaluru (January 17, Wednesday).
This is the last T20I series for India before the T20 World Cup 2024 in the US and Caribbean. The tournament runs from June 1 to 29.
India’s squad for 3 T20Is against Afghanistan
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, Mukesh Kumar.
In: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan.
Out: Suryakumar Yadav, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Ishan Kishan.
