• Source:JND
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IND vs AFG T20Is: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have made an unexpected return to India's T20I squad for the three-match series against Afghanistan months ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the USA.

Rohit and Kohli both played their last T20I match for India in the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal against England in November 2022. The duo star batters made themselves unavailable for almost 14 months in the shortest format untill they conveyed their decision to chief selector Ajit Agarkar in Cape Town recently to return for the pinnacle event.

Rohit has returned to the side as T20I captain after all-rounder Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav shared the leadership duties in the opener's absence. Both Hardik and Suryakumar are ruled out of the series due to respective injuries and are expected to return in the IPL in March.

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The series against Afghanistan is the only T2OI bilateral that India will play before playing the T20 World Cup 2024 in June. The return of two prolific T20I batters is a positive sign for the strength of the Men in Blue but it will certainly impact the balance of the team.

Rohit return to the top will automatically put either Shubman Gill or Yashasvi Jaiswal out of the playing 11 while Virat Kohli's addition will force the management to drop youngster Shivam Dube down in the order.

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When India returns to its full strength in T20I with the addition of Hardik, Suryakumar and Ravindra Jadeja, the likes of in-form youngsters including Jaiswal, Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar will be among the firsts to face the heat for T20 World Cup 2024 selection.

Out-of-action wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant's return to the upcoming IPL season will make him the first-choice keeper for the T20 World Cup 2024. Pant missed last year's international matches owing to multiple injuries sustained in a horrific car accident in December 2022.

If Pant proves his match fitness in IPL 2024, he will surely be one of the preferred options for the wicketkeeper's role in the Indian T20I side. He was India's mainstay wicketkeeper-batter before his car accident ruled him out of cricket action.

India's predicted playing 11 for Afghanistan T20Is: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill/ Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.

India’s squad for Afghanistan T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.