BCCI announce India squad for one-off Test and ODI series against Afghanistan

As the Indian cricket team gears up to return to action in the longest format of the game with a one-off Test against Afghanistan, the BCCI announced the squad for it. Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, two key players, have been rested, and KL Rahul will deputize for Shubman Gill in the squad that also features Devdutt Padikkal.

This will be India’s first Test since their defeat at the hands of South Africa at home last November. Manav Suthar, Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar earned their maiden call-ups to the national side, marking an inclusion of fresh faces in the Test squad.

Fast bowlers Prince Yadav, Harpreet Brar and Yash Dubey were also included in the squad for the three-match ODI series that will follow. Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya are set to make a comeback to the ODI format while Dhruv Jurel, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja , Harshit Rana and Mohammed Siraj were rested.

Shedding light on the decision to give the vice-captaincy to KL Rahul, India’s Chief Selector, Ajit Agarkar said, “That's the best option we think at this point that we have as far as vice-captain with experience. We saw during the South African series as well when Shubman got injured. And KL provides us with the necessary experience that you need in case the situation arises. Plus, he has obviously had a really good tour of England and against the West Indies."

Shedding light on the new inclusions, Agarkar added, “With Gurnoor, we have seen a lot of promise over the last season-and-a-half now. Tall guy with a bit of pace. Again, keeping the South African World Cup in mind, we are obviously going to try a few guys who at that point might be useful if they keep developing. Prince Yadav has shown a lot of promise through the domestic season. I think he had a really good Vijay Hazare. Obviously, bowled well in the IPL. But we have seen that he has grown a lot as a bowler over the last year or so. And again, has the necessary skills to succeed with the white ball."

Agarkar also explained the transitioning of the Indian Test team, stating, “With the Test team, you can see there is a lot of transition happening at this point. So, we are looking at options. Obviously, there have been couple of players who have moved away from Test cricket. In one-day cricket, it is the same thing. You want guys who can contribute with the bat down the order but also have the necessary skill to be a frontline spinner. Or a frontline seam bowler. And we think he (Dubey) certainly fits the bill."

India will be facing Afghanistan in a one-off Test which will be played from June 6th in New Chandigarh. This will be followed by three ODIs to be played on June 14th, 17th and 20th in Dharamsala, Lucknow and Chennai respectively.

India Test squad vs Afghanistan

Shubman Gill (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vice-capt) Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel

India ODI squad vs Afghanistan

Shubman Gill (capt), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-capt), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey