As the Board of Control for Cricket in India revealed the highly-anticipated squad list for the India vs Afghanistan, T20 series at home, there was one notable absentee. Ishan Kishan had left the India squad during their previous tour of South Africa and, upon the revelation of the roster for the Afghanistan series, his name was nowhere to be found. (More Cricket News)
Speaking on his absence, a BCCI source told PTI that the Mumbai Indians batter was unhappy with his constant seclusion from the first eleven despite travelling with the squad, and is on a break at present. Worryingly, for Kishan, the source claimed that the selectors have begun to look beyond the youngster.
"Ishan wasn't happy that he was travelling without much game time. He is on a break right now and is vacationing. In any case, selectors are in all likelihood are looking beyond Kishan. It will be interesting if he is picked for England Test series where KS Bharat will be back behind the stumps," a BCCI spokesperson told PTI.
Kishan's absence was overshadowed, however, by the return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The experienced Indian duo had sat out the white ball legs of India's Tour of South Africa 2023-24 but were named in the squad list for the final T20 series pre-World Cup - as things stand - with a view toward the summer's big-ticket event.
"Decisions on Rohit and Virat can't solely be taken by the selection committee. There is a lot at stake, broadcasters, sponsors and you can't pick one and drop the other. Ajit and his team needed to maintain a status quo," a former India selector informed PTI.
With him back in the side, India will line up for the three T20Is against Afghanistan at home under the stewardship of Sharma. The pair will play the first of three games in Mohali on January 11, 2024, followed by clashes in Mohali and Bengaluru on January 14 and 17, respectively.
India's squad for IND vs AFG, T20I Series
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.
