India vs Afghanistan T20Is: India announced a 15-man squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, scheduled to kick off on the 13th of September.
Prior to the squad announcement, there were reports of Krunal Pandya returning to the national team. However, once the squad was announced, Pandya’s wait continued, prompting him to react via an Instagram story. The all-rounder, taking to Instagram, posted a simple message that read: Hope is still alive.
Krunal Pandya Reacts to Team India Snub For Afghanistan T20Is
After the India squad for the Afghanistan T20Is was named this morning, Mumbai all-rounder Krunal Pandya, the star of all India teams, tweeted about the hope to join his country once again very soon. According to reports, Krunal was set to reappear in Indian colours in T20Is against Afghanistan in Delhi. However, he could not make the squad. For spin all-rounders, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar (the latter being subject to fitness) could play. Meanwhile, Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi play solely as specialist spinners.
In T20Is, he has scored 124 runs from 10 innings playing for India, having been in their team on 19 occasions, averaging around 24.80 with a strike rate of 130.52 where his highest score being 26*, while taking a total of 15 wickets, averaging at 36.93 with a best of 4/36.
Krunal Pandya Rediscover Form With Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Krunal, playing as Krunal, reestablished himself as a batter during the IPL 2026 season. This time, he was one of the main contributors to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) becoming back-to-back champions. In all, he scored 226 runs at a strike rate of 145.80 with an average of 37.66 across the nine innings. He also managed to bag 14 wickets, averaging 30.35 each, with his best bowling figures at 2/16.
Last season, Krunal was one of the main names of RCB’s maiden IPL win. He was named the ‘Player of the Match’ in the final for his performance (2/17) in his four overs with the ball, which helped RCB during the defence of 191 runs. He was the highest wicket-taker for RCB in the IPL after taking 17 wickets in 15 games at an average of 22.29.
IND vs AFG: India T20I Squad
India’s T20I squad: 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