Hyderabad: Star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returned to India's T20I squad after almost 14 months for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan starting from January 11 in Mohali. The squad which was picked by Ajit Agarkar led the selection committee was announced by BCCI Secretary Jay Shah in a media release on Sunday evening.
For the record, Rohit and Virat played the last T20I against England at Adelaide in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022 and missed out on 22 T20I fixtures since then. With the 2024 World Cup set to be played in June in the Caribbean and the United States, the five wise men have decided to go back to Rohit and Virat.
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🚨 NEWS 🚨#TeamIndia’s squad for @IDFCFIRSTBank T20I series against Afghanistan announced 🔽
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 7, 2024 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
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,…
">🚨 NEWS 🚨#TeamIndia’s squad for @IDFCFIRSTBank T20I series against Afghanistan announced 🔽
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 7, 2024
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,…🚨 NEWS 🚨#TeamIndia’s squad for @IDFCFIRSTBank T20I series against Afghanistan announced 🔽
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 7, 2024
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,…
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah had asked for a rest and was not picked for the three-match series as a result while batters Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and spin-bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja have been excluded from the squad. Also, pacers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj are excluded from the squad.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya and batter Suryakumar Yadav missed out on the squad as a result of suffering ankle injuries. Young openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and batter wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan are also missing from the line-up.
The inclusion of the Rohit-Kohli duo means that they are back in India's plans for the T20 World Cup to be played in June. The selectors have relied on a young battery of pacers comprising left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, and Mukesh Kumar. All-rounders Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel have also made it to the 16-member squad. Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and leggie Ravi Bishnoi will form a spin duo to trouble the opposition batters.
Either of the prolific young openers, Gill or Jaiswal are likely to open the innings with Rohit Sharma while Rinku Singh will handle the finishing duties. The second and third games of the series will be played at Indore and Bengaluru on January 14 and January 17.
The series against Afghanistan will be the last before the T20 World World, which will take place right after the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL).
Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar
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