NEW DELHI: Team India stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli on Sunday made a return in the T20I setup for the three-match series against Afghanistan, starting January 11 in Mohali.
Both Rohit and Virat return for T20Is after a gap of 14 months.
The duo last featured in India T20 internationals in the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022.
Pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have been rested for the Afghanistan series.
On the other hand injured all-rounder Hardik Pandya and swashbuckling middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav will not be participating in the series.
Interestingly KL Rahul has not been included in the side with Jitesh Sharma and Sanju Samson featuring as keeper-batters.
Ravindra Jadeja is also another notable absentee in the 16-member Indian squad.
All-rounder Shivam Dube has been included in the squad while leggie Yuzvendra Chahal was once again ignored.
Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav have been included as spinners while Washington Sundar and Axar Patel are the spin all-rounders in the side.
Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar will be sharing the responsibilities in the pace department in the absence of rested Bumrah and Siraj.
Emerging ‘finisher’ Rinku Singh, who had a successful T20I series in South Africa has also been retained in the squad.
The T20I series between India and Afghanistan will kick off on January 11 in Mohali; the second game will be played on January 14 in Indore; and the series will conclude on January 17 in Bengaluru.
The Afghanistan series is India’s last bilateral T20I series before the T20 World Cup, which starts on June 1.
India Squad for Afghanistan series<\/span> – Rohit Sharma (C), S Gill, Y Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, W Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar <\/div>\n