India announce squads for Afghanistan series, Bumrah rested, KL Rahul named Test vice-captain

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the squads for the upcoming one-off Test and three-match ODI series against Afghanistan.

Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the series as part of his workload management, while KL Rahul has been named vice-captain for the Test match in place of Rishabh Pant.

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India Test Squad vs Afghanistan

Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (VC), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Dhruv Jurel, Harsh Dubey

India ODI Squad vs Afghanistan

Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey

Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya are subject to fitness.

The one-off Test will be played in Chennai, followed by the three ODIs.

This will be India’s first Test assignment since suffering a 2-0 home series loss to South Africa in November, and the selectors have decided to make several changes to the squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan.

Jadeja, Axar and Bumrah miss out

Among the notable absentees from the previous Test squad are Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Akash Deep.

Bumrah has been rested as part of workload management, while Jadeja and Axar have also been left out for the series. Fast bowler Akash Deep is another player missing from the squad after being part of the South Africa series.

Maiden Test call-ups for Manav Suthar and Gurnoor Brar

The selectors have included a few fresh names in the squad, with left-arm spinning all-rounder Manav Suthar and left-arm pacer Gurnoor Brar earning their maiden Test call-ups.

Another left-arm spinner, Harsh Dubey, has also been added to the squad as India continue to build depth in their bowling attack.

India vs Afghanistan series schedule

The home series against Afghanistan will begin with a one-off Test in New Chandigarh from June 6 to 10.

After the Test match, the two teams will play a three-match ODI series. The ODI games are scheduled to take place in Dharamsala, Lucknow and Chennai on June 14, 17 and 20 respectively.

India dominated the only previous Test meeting

India and Afghanistan have faced each other in only one Test match so far. That game was played in Bengaluru in 2018, where India completely dominated the contest and secured victory by an innings and 262 runs inside two days.