Afghanistan announced a strong 19-member squad for T20 series against India; Rashid Khan makes his return

Team India have finished a successful tour of South Africa, where they had a pretty good outings across formats. The T20 and test series were levelled, and India won the ODI series. Now, it is time to turn in the shorter format. With the T20 World Cup 2024 coming up, the Indian team will be playing their final three T20Is ahead of the marquee tournament.

They will host Afghanistan for three T20Is, starting on January 11. This will be the final preparation to test the youngsters before the five-match test series against England and IPL 2024. Team India have given chances to the youngsters in the last few series and will be looking to finalize a good team combination. On the other hand, it will also be a good series for Afghanistan to prepare for the T20 World Cup 2024.

IND vs AFG: Afghanistan announce a strong side for T20 series; Rashid Khan makes his return

Both teams don’t play much against each other, which will create interest among the fans. The Afghanistan Cricket Board has announced their squad for the upcoming series. Star leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who was out of action due to injury, makes his return to the side. Ibrahim Zadran will be the captain. The 19-member squad has all the big names back on the side.

This squad is pretty similar to the one that played the World Cup 2023 in India. We might see a similar team combination. It will be a great competition for the Indian team as well, against some good spin attacks from Afghanistan. The first T20I match will be played on January 11 in Mohali. The second will be played in Indore on June 14 (Sunday).

Meanwhile, both teams will play the third and final game on January 17 in Bengaluru. The Indian selection committee will be announcing the Indian squad pretty soon. There are chances of certain comebacks by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in a shorter format. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav will miss the series due to their respective injuries.

Afghanistan’s Squad vs IND: Ibrahim Zadran (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Rahmat Shah. Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Jana, Azmaullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen Ul Haq, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem, Qais Ahmad, Gulbadin Naib