Not Rohit Sharma! Hardik Pandya To Lead India In Afghanistan ODIs - Report

New Delhi: As IPL 2023 comes to an end, players will be available for their national duties. But according to reports in PTI, BCCI is likely to rest all the senior players, including captain Rohit Sharma, former India captain Virat Kohli, and bowling star Mohammed Shami, will be rested for the West Indies tour.

Right after the IPL, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team will face Australia in the final match of the ICC World Test Championship on June 7, 2023, at the Kennington Oval Stadium in London, UK.

After two back-to-back hectic tournaments, most seniors will be rested. India will face the West Indies in all three formats in July, and the selectors are likely to name a second-string squad with Hardik Pandya as the captain.

From July 12 to August 13, they will compete against the West Indies in two Tests, three ODIs, and five T20Is. Then, the team is expected to play a three-match T20I series in Ireland. In place of the senior players, young talents who gave excellent performances in IPL 2023, including Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma, might debut for India.

As the president of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), Mirwais Ashraf, is in India for the final of the IPL, there are chances that a meeting between the members of the Asian Cricket Council can be conducted where both the boards (BCCI and ACB) could finalise the further details.

Team India For Asia Cup 2023

Further according to reports ACC board members to decide the fate of the Asia Cup 2023 , which implies that the Indian players' workload will only rise given that the crucial 50-over World Cup is scheduled for October November.

If finalised, the Asia Cup 2023 is expected to be played in September, which means that Indian players will be jam-packed. In addition to that, India are also set to face Australia in a three-match ODI series, the second such series this year to finalise World Cup preparations.

According to 'Cricbuzz', the BCCI is finding it difficult to schedule the Afghanistan series, proposed to be having three ODIs, given the time constraint and also because the broadcast deal with Disney Star has ended and a new tender is yet to be issued. However, a senior BCCI secretary Jay Shah during an earlier interaction with media in Mumbai had said: "BCCI media rights tender will be on schedule this year (June-July) and will depend on the Afghanistan tour, but more likely the process will start from the Australia series. The Board will speak to all stakeholders concerned and will come up with an interim decision."