On the eve of India’s first T20I against Afghanistan, head coach Rahul Dravid has confirmed that Virat Kohli will not be part of the series opener. Dravid said that Kohli has opted for a break citing personal reasons. However, he also confirmed that the senior India batter who has been named in India’s T20I squad for the first time since the team’s defeat to England in their T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal against England, will be available for the remaining two T20Is.
Dravid, whose tenure as India coach was extended following India’s impressive performance at the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 where they finished as runners-up, was there at the pre-match press conference ahead of the 1st T20I set to be played at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. The second and the the third T20I of the series will be played in Indore and Bengaluru respectively.
India’s Final T20I Series Before T20 World Cup 2024
It is pertinent to note that the Afghanistan series will be India’s final T20I assignment before the T20 World Cup which makes it an important series as the players will get together as a unit for the last time in this series in this format. Following this, India will play a five-match Test series against England at home followed by the Indian Premier League (IPL) where players would join their respective franchises and might not necessarily play the same role there what they might be required to do in the national setup.
As far as the Afghanistan series is concerned, India have a solid record against them in this format. The two teams have met each other five times in this format with India coming out on top four times and the remaining match ending without a result.
India’s T20I Squad For Series vs Afghanistan
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar