Image Credit- PTI
In India’s first-ever bilateral series against
Afghanistan, all eyes will be on skipper Rohit Sharma and the Indian think tank
on how the team and the plans shape up ahead of the T20 World Cup which is 5 months’
time. With only the IPL left for the Indian incumbents in terms of preparation
for the marquee event, this 3-game series are the only international games for
India to play and assess.
As far as Afghanistan are concerned, they have ample of
time to answer the same set of questions given that they play 9 T20is between
now and the World Cup. This gives them enough of breathing space to reintegrate
their ace spinner Rashid Khan into the side as well as strengthen other areas
of the squad.
While the series marks the first T20 appearance both
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli since that harrowing loss to England in the
semifinals of the 2022 T20 WC, Kohli will miss today’s game in Mohali due to
personal commitments.
With Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal all set to be
the opening pair in this series, it will be interesting to see whether Jaiswal
nails the opening spot as his own with Shubman Gill, who has upped his T20 game
in recent times, waiting in the wings.
Afghanistan’s decision to name a 19-man squad is
testament to the fact that they are willing to chop and change according to the
needs and conditions that they will be playing on. While Rashid’s absence will
definitely hurt, they have enough quality and personnel in their ranks to
offset his absence.
The desire of Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, and
Mujeeb Ur Rahman to be released from their central contracts and play franchise
cricket caused a hitch for Afghanistan last month. However, all three have
returned to the national squad and are anticipated to be key players.