The Indian cricket team have made wholesale changes to their squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, which will take place from September 13 to 17, with all games set to take place at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital, New Delhi.
More than half the squad is different from the one that played in the World Champions’ last assignment against Zimbabwe in July.
While Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma retain their spot as captain and vice-captain, Sanju Samson is back in the squad after being dropped from the squad for the tour to Zimbabwe. Prabhsimran Singh has missed out as a result after not being given a debut during the series.
Among the players to miss out, Rinku Singh is the most notable name. The left-hander had earned a comeback after not being picked for the tour of Ireland and England. The left-hander made 37 runs in two innings in the series at a strike rate of 168.8
Varun Chakravarthy has returned to the squad after missing out on the tour due to an injury, while his replacement, Ravi Bishnoi, has been retained too.
The most notable changes are in the bowling unit, as all first-choice options are back after not travelling to the African nation. India had taken a new-look pace attack to Zimbabwe.
Although it is worth noting that, while there are several changes from the previous series, all 15 players are the same as the ones picked for the 2026 Asian Games, where the men’s cricket team will play their first match on 28th September (quarter-final).
IN: Sanju Samson, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh
OUT: Suryansh Shedge, Rinku Singh, Harsh Dubey, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Ashok Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Prabhsimran Singh
Players Retained: Shreyas Iyer (C), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma (VC), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Varun Chakravarthy
India Squad For Afghanistan T20I Series: Shreyas Iyer [C], Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson [WK], Ishan Kishan [WK], Tilak Varma [VC], Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar*, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah*, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana*