After the all-format tour of South Africa, Team India’s next assignment is the home T20I series against Afghanistan, starting on January 11 in Mohali.
This will be the last T20I series for India before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, slated to be held in the West Indies and USA from June 1 to June 29.
There are only five days remaining for the first of the three T20Is against Afghanistan but the BCCI is yet to announce the squad.
According to a PTI report, batting stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be included in the squad but possibly with a condition that form during the IPL will be the main parameter for selection in the T20 World Cup team.
The report further claimed that another round of discussions could take place, and it could be the BCCI bigwigs taking the final call.
Notably, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had travelled to South Africa during the second Test to talk to Rohit and Kohli, and both have made themselves available.
Agarkar has departed for India and the squad will be reportedly unveiled once he is back, in the next 24 to 48 hours.
It is understood that the team's balance might be an issue if both Rohit and Kohli feature in the playing XI.
"If you have Rohit, Shubman Gill, Virat, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik constituting your top five then where is your left-hander? Now, let's assume you drop Kohli and play Gill at No.3 with Yashasvi Jaiswal opening with Rohit. Can Ajit take that bold call," a former national selector told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
If the selectors pick both Rohit and Kohli, the two people likely to face the axe are Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan, the latter being a left-handed keeper-batter and a top-order batting option.
Rohit and Kohli appearing in the XI also mean that Jitesh Sharma playing as a keeper-batter besides Rinku Singh. In that case, one can only fit in five bowlers with all-rounder Hardik Pandya needing to bowl four overs in each game.
"The flexibility will always be an issue but there would always be external factors that need to be countered. Did you see ICC promoting the tourney with Kohli's giant billboard video in New York. MI handle put that aerial advert of Rohit and Shaheen Shah Afridi. So there will be external pressure," a former BCCI office bearer said.
"It will be on Jay how much he can empower Agarkar's committee. As of now you need to accommodate both or drop both. The sensible thing would be to include both for Afghanistan and not make any promise for World T20 till the IPL performance is monitored," the veteran administrator said.
(With PTI Inputs)
