Kohli & Rohit Comeback: Rohit Sharma, a stalwart of Team India’s T20I lineup, and Virat Kohli made their return to the T20I format on Sunday for the three-match Afghanistan series starting January 11 in Mohali.

The T20I series against Afghanistan begins on January 11 in Mohali. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli return after a 14-month break.

The Afghanistan series will not feature the pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, or all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Suryakumar Yadav, a middle-order batsman with a swashbuckling style and an injured ligament, will also not participate in the series.

The selection committee cannot decide on Virat and Rohit. You can’t just pick one sponsor and ignore the others. There are many things at stake. Ajit and his squad needed to maintain the status quo,” said a former India Selector, under condition of anonymity.

Hardik’s hopes of being India’s skipper at the T20 World Cup in June have been severely harmed by this development. He has, however, replaced Rohit as Mumbai Indians captain for IPL 2024.

In a surprising move, KL Rahul was not included in the squad. Instead, Jitesh Samson and Sanju Samuel were selected as the keeper-batters. Ishan Kishan has been overlooked for the shorter format.

“Ishan was not happy about his travels without much playing time. He’s on vacation and on a break. Selectors will most likely look beyond Kishan.

BCCI source: “It would be interesting if he was selected for the England Test Series where KS Bharat is back behind the stumps.” Shivam Dube, an all-rounder, has been added to the squad as Hardik is absent. Leggie Yuzvendrachahal was again overlooked.

Kuldeep Jadav will be the Indian spinner as Ravindra Jadeja has been rested. Arshdeep, Avesh, and Mukesh remain the frontline pacers. Prasidh, who had a poor performance in the shorter format, has been sidelined.

The Afghanistan series begins on January 11. The first T20I will be played in Mohali at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium. Indore will host the second T20I on January 14, and Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium will host the third on January 17.

Rinku Singh has been retained as a ‘finisher’ after a successful T20I Series in South Africa.

The T20I Series between India and Afghanistan begins on January 11 in Mohali, the second match will be played on January 14 in Indore, and the final game will take place on January 17 in Bengaluru. India’s final bilateral T20I before the T20 World Cup begins on June 1 is against Afghanistan.

Jadeja, The Pace Duo, Rested

As reported in this newspaper, the selection panel has rested the pacers Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah, who were the principal architects of India’s bowling lineup during the recent South Africa series.

The selection committee gave them some time off before the home test series with England, which consists of five matches. Deepak Chahar, who withdraw from the South Africa game due to a personal emergency, was omitted.

The selection committee also rests spin-bowling All-Rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who was part of India’s tour party in South Africa.

Arshdeep, Mukesh, and Avesh are the Indian pace batteries. Shivam Dube, a Mumbai-based player, has been selected to replace Pandya, who is still recovering from an injury.

Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, and Ravi Bishnoi are also part of the team. Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, and Kuldeep Bishnoi are also in the spin department. Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma are fighting for the wicketkeeper’s position.

Samson, the wicketkeeper for India’s T20I team that recently played against Australia and South Africa, has yet to play in a T20 match since August when India used a second-string team against Ireland.

Ishan Kishnan’s absence from the South Africa Series is only partially apparent. He had withdrawn for ‘personal reasons” during the South Africa tour. Samson’s first ODI hundred came against South Africa at Paarl.

Why is KL Rahul Not On The List?

IND vs AFG: KL Rahul will have to wait until Rohit and Kohli are called up. Rahul played as the opener in almost all T20 International matches. Shubman, Yashasvi, Kohli, and Rohit are all in the team, so the slots for the top of the order are already taken.

Selectors felt that wicketkeepers Jitesh Samson and Sanju Sharma were better suited to finishers. Rahul, therefore, missed out on another slot in the lower order. The IPL is a competition to determine the two World Cup wicket keepers.

India Squad for Afghanistan series – Rohit Sharma (C), S Gill, Y Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, W Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar

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