The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced the squads for the upcoming home series against Afghanistan, comprising a one off Test and three ODIs beginning June 6. While the squads were largely on expected lines, veteran pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been rested from both formats to manage his workload.
In a notable leadership change, KL Rahul has been appointed as India’s new Test vice captain, replacing Rishabh Pant in the leadership group.
India’s Test squad will be led by Shubman Gill and includes Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, and Harsh Dubey.
The ODI squad, also captained by Gill with Shreyas Iyer as deputy, features Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, and Harsh Dubey.
Ishan Kishan earned a national recall following a sensational domestic season, having led Jharkhand to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title and scoring 517 runs at a strike rate of nearly 200. Notably, senior pacer Mohammed Shami, who was widely expected to return to Test cricket, was not included in either squad.
The announcement was made following a selection committee meeting in Guwahati, presided over by chief selector Ajit Agarkar.
