Bumrah Rested for Afghanistan Test as KL Rahul Named India Vice-Captain

Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for India’s upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan national cricket team, while KL Rahul has replaced Rishabh Pant as vice-captain in the 15-member squad led by Shubman Gill.

The match marks India’s return to Test cricket following their 2-0 home series defeat to South Africa last November. Alongside Bumrah, senior all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, as well as fast bowler Akash Deep, have also been omitted from the Test squad.

India have instead introduced fresh faces, handing maiden Test call-ups to left-arm spinning all-rounder Manav Suthar and fast bowler Gurnoor Brar. Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey has also been included in the squad.

In the ODI setup, pacer Prince Yadav, Brar and Dubey earned their maiden call-ups for the three-match series against Afghanistan. Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan and all-rounder Hardik Pandya returned to the ODI side after missing the previous assignment.

Several players from India’s ODI squad that lost 2-1 to New Zealand earlier this year have been left out, including Pant, Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Ayush Badoni, Harshit Rana and Mohammed Siraj.

The Afghanistan series begins with the one-off Test at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium from June 6 to 10. The teams will then play three ODIs in Dharamsala, Lucknow and Chennai on June 14, 17 and 20 respectively.

India and Afghanistan have previously met in only one Test match, played in Bengaluru in 2018, where India secured a dominant innings-and-262-run victory inside two days.

India Test Squad vs Afghanistan

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

India ODI Squad vs Afghanistan

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