Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s inclusion was the highlight of India’s squad announced for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, starting on January 11 in Mohali.
The two batting stalwarts returned to India’s T20I team for the first time since November 2022. Last year, they focused on the 50-over format with the Cricket World Cup taking precedence.
Rohit and Kohli’s comeback in the shortest format sparked discussions about their potential selection for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, slated to be held in the West Indies and USA from June 1 to June 29.
Speaking to news agency ANI, former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith shared his two cents on star batters’ return to the T20I side, saying that India will have to come up with a good blend of youth and experience for the forthcoming T20 World Cup.
"It's about balancing workloads and introducing new players at various times, giving opportunity to the player with the amount of cricket India plays. We have seen IPL produce a serious amount of talent for India in this format,” Smith said.
“I think the selection panel and coaches have to figure out what stars they want and what squad they want to take from India to play on those types of pitches. We will have to see how they will compile the squad. With the amount of talent that India has now, it is a difficult choice to make. I think balancing some experience with youth .... also how they go about that," he added.
Wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson also makes his return to T20Is after missing the recent series against Australia and South Africa. Seam-bowling all-rounder Shivam Dube gets another chance in the team as Hardik Pandya remains unavailable due to injury.
Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer are the notable names missing the squad ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav, who led India in the last two T20I assignments against Australia and South Africa, missed out on selection owing to injury.
India squad for Afghanistan T20Is:
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Akshar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar
