The India Cricket Team is set to be back in action after the tour of South Africa. The Men in Blue are ready to face the Pathans in the IND vs AFG 1st T20I in Mohali. The Men in Blue are ready to face their final 3 T20I matches in a bilateral series before the mega 2024 T20 World Cup.
The biggest highlight will be on star Indian batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The dynamic duo makes a comeback in India’s T20I squad after a gap of 14 months. Rohit is back to lead in the squad in the absence of Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav. On the other hand, the ace pacers like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have been rested for the series, keeping in mind about the IND vs ENG Test series.
India’s main focus is on the T20 World Cup. Though the series is against Afghanistan, it will be India’s last 3 T20I matches before the start of the mega tournament. Hence, the performances and the results of this series is extremely crucial.
On the other hand, it is a bad news for Afghanistan. Star all-rounder Rashid Khan is expected to miss all 3 games of the series. Though he has been named in the squad, Rashid continues to recovery from his back surgery.
“He is not totally fit, but is travelling with the team. We hope that he gets fit as soon as we expect him to. He’s doing his rehab with the doctor, and we will miss him in the series…” Afghan skipper Ibrahim Zadran told Sportstar.
For India, Rohit and Kohli slot into the team and in their usual spots. Sanju Samson will face a strong fight against Jitesh Sharma for the keeper’s spot. India will have to bank on their rather inexperienced pace trio of Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar.
India vs Afghanistan 1st T20I
Date – 11th January, 2024
Time – 7 PM IST
Venue – Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
Live Streaming: Jio Cinema
Live Broadcast: Sports18 Network
IND Squad: 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
AFG Squad: Ibrahim Zadran (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ikram Alikhil (WK), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmaullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen Ul Haq, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem, Qais Ahmad, Gulbadin Naib and Rashid Khan.
