KL Rahul has replaced Rishabh Pant as India’s Test vice-captain as the squad was announced for the side’s one-off Test and three-match ODI series against Afghanistan on Wednesday. Pant has also been dropped from the squad for India’s subsequent three-match ODI series against Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan has earned a recall to the ODI squad as well.
Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya have also been included in the Indian ODI squad, although their availability is subject to their fitness being cleared by the BCCI CoE. Maiden Test call-ups have been handed to left-arm spinners Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey. Fast bowler Gurnoor Brar has received maiden call-ups to the Test and ODI squads both while fellow pacer Prince Yadav and has received a maiden call-up to the ODI squad alone. A notable ommission from the Test squad is Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Auqib Nabi.
Jasprit Bumrah has also been rested for the duration of the series, as is the case with veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Prasidh Krishna returns to the Test fold after missing the home series against West Indies and South Africa late last year. Axar Patel has also been excluded from the two squads. Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar said while announcing the squad that India will be looking to try out options apart from Axar and Jadeja in the months leading up to the 2027 World Cup.
The Test match will be just the second between India and Afghanistan and the first since 2018. It will also be the first time that a Test match will be played in the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh. The one-off Test is set to start on June 6. This will be followed by the three-match ODI series that starts on June 14 in Dharamshala. The second ODI is set to be played on June 17 in Lucknow and the series concludes in Chennai on June 20.
India squad for one-off Test vs Afghanistan: Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (VC), Sai Sudarshan, Rishabh Pant, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel
India squad for three-match ODI series vs Afghanistan: Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey.
