Every bilateral series does not generate the same degree of curiosity. However, many cricket lovers in India must be looking forward to the India-Afghanistan three-match T20I series. Those who can find time for these matches will switch on their TV sets, knowing that this is India’s last T20I series before the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the US in June.
Can Afghanistan create the possibility of a nail-biting finish or two in the upcoming series? That is possible if the playing XI has an extraordinary day on the field. History shows that India and Afghanistan have played in five T20Is so far. India has won on four occasions, while the fifth match between the two teams, the gold medal match at the Asian Games in China, produced a no-result verdict after washout. India won the goal medal because of its higher ranking, which was a disappointing end to an exciting event.
The Afghanistan T20I squad is being captained by the young opening batter Ibrahim Zabran. However, their most popular player in India is the spin wizard Rashid Khan, who is also capable of playing quick cameos towards the end of the innings. Tenth in the ICC T20I rankings, a list in which India is ranked first, Afghanistan also emerged as the most-loved visiting team during the 2023 ODI World Cup hosted in India recently.
Afghanistan failed to qualify for the semifinals in the tournament, but they finished a creditable sixth on the Group Stage points table. They thrashed an off-colour England by 69 runs, and defeated arch-rivals Pakistan by eight wickets, apart from beating Sri Lanka with seven wickets in hand and winning against the Netherlands by seven wickets. Before leaving India with their heads held high, the Afghan men distinguished themselves with their never-say-die spirit, a quality many Indian cricket lovers will hope to see — as long as the home team finally wins.
Of course, the focus will be on the home team that has been selected for the series. There is no Hardik Pandya, who has led India on most occasions after the 2022 T20 World Cup, who is out with an injury. Suryakumar Yadav, who led the team in Pandya’s absence during the T20 series against Australia at home, followed by the T20Is in South Africa, is also injured. Selectors have gone back to veteran Rohit Sharma for leading the squad. Virat Kohli is back, which is not a surprise because keeping him out after Sharma’s return might have been a controversial decision.
Neither Sharma nor Kohli have appeared in Team India colours in the shortest format after the Men in Blue experienced a humiliating ten-wicket loss to England in the semifinals of the 2022 T20 World Cup. That is a long absence. Sharma has given enough recent evidence that he intends to go after the bowling at the start of the innings. He also lost his wicket because of his audacious strokeplay on occasions, but his selfless approach also resulted in some crucial knocks that played a significant role in helping India reach the finals of the ODI World Cup. Kohli is an undisputed great of world cricket, but it will be tempting to observe whether or not he can score as freely as required in the middle overs against the visiting team.
Sharma will play in all three matches because he is the leader, and so will Kohli because he is Kohli. Who among the other batters won’t make it to the playing XI? Rinku Singh, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Yashasvi Jaiswal or Sanju Samson? Some eyebrows will be raised after any playing XI for the first match is finally announced. Of course, both these veterans are capable of changing gears to silence analysts who are questioning their selection with the help of statistics. But they must be at their free-scoring best, in the present series and also in the IPL.
Several players have been rested for the present series. Missing in action will be names like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja and Shreyas Iyer. Pandya and SKY are injured anyway. Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar constitute the pace attack, while Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, and all-rounders Washington Sundar and Axar Patel are the four spinners in the squad. The hard-hitting all-rounder Shivam Dube and wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma have been included in the squad, and K L Rahul has been dropped. An injured Ruturaj Gaikwad is not available for selection, and neither is Ishan Kishan, who has opted for a break.
The present series against Afghanistan will not feature the best Indian eleven that would have played in an injury-free scenario, but it will give an opportunity to the chosen ones to get some valuable match practice before the IPL. The absence of several automatic choices is a reminder that India has a problem of plenty and selecting the squad for the prestigious T20 World Cup will be tougher than it probably seems.
The writer, a journalist for three decades, writes on literature and pop culture. Among his books are ‘MSD: The Man, The Leader’, the bestselling biography of former Indian captain MS Dhoni, and the ‘Hall of Fame’ series of film star biographies. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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