India vs Afghanistan: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli to play T20 series; Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj rested

livemint.com:

India vs Afghanistan: The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) on Sunday released Team India's squad for the upcoming IDFC First Bank T20 international series against Afghanistan. The T20 series will mark the return of skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli, who will play the shortest format of the game after 14 months. The selectors have decided to give some rest to India's star pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj who bowled some impressive spells in South Africa.

The team against Afghanistan will see a perfect mix of young blood and experience as it includes Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan etc. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma are getting some more chances to hone their skills ahead of the T20 World Cup 2023. The Afghanistan T20 series is India's last assignment before the T20 World Cup 2024.

Rohit Sharma leading the Indian team in the bilateral series is a positive signal from the Indian skipper as suspense continues over his plans in white-ball cricket. Virat Kohli's return for the T20 series will also provide a fresh boost to Indian fans who saw him crushing the opponents in 2023. The star batter does not have that great average in the T20 format so far but is riding on exceptional form and is expected to demolish the few remaining doubts of the selectors.

Earlier, it was reported that the selectors may keep Virat Kohli away from the T20 World Cup squad due to some external factors. The batting combinations are not looking right with his presence in the squad and the selectors might have to reconsider him or some youngster in the Indian team. The inclusion in the Afghanistan series points that the final decision is not in yet and we can still see both Rohit Sharma