Three surprising returns in India T20I squad for Afghanistan series

Rohit Sharma has returned back to the India T20I squad after 14 months.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) national selection panel headed by former India fast bowler Ajit Agarkar, on Sunday, 7th January, announced a 16-member India T20I squad for the upcoming three-match series against Afghanistan.

The announcement saw the return of veteran Indian cricketers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli back to the T20I setup after 14 months. Last time they played a T20I for India was way back in November 2022, when India suffered a defeat at the hands of England in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 semi-finals.

India will now face Afghanistan in a three-match T20I series in their final assignment before the next mega T20I event, ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and USA, for which the schedule was announced on Friday.

Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav who have been leading India since the team’s exit in T20 WC 2022, suffered injuries in the last few months and have not been included in India’s T20I squad for the upcoming series against Afghanistan. But, there are a few surprising inclusions in the India T20I squad. Let’s check them out.

3. Sanju Samson

Middle-order batter and wicket-keeper Sanju Samson, who made his T20I debut way back in 2015, had to wait five years to return back to the Indian T20I setup in 2020. But, since then, one thing has remained constant in Sanju Samson’s life and that is being selected in the Indian ODI squad when there’s a T20 World Cup following in the year and vice-versa. Considering that, it is really surprising to see Samson in the Indian T20I squad ahead of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and USA.

Sanju Samson last played a T20I for India back in August 2023 against Ireland in the away tour, where he managed scores of 1* and 40 in the two T20Is. Overall, Sanju Samson has played 24 T20Is and scored 374 runs in 21 innings including one half-century, which came against Ireland in 2022.

The unavailability of Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson himself scoring a century in the recent ODI series against South Africa, might be one of the possible reasons why he has found a spot in the Indian T20I squad for the Afghanistan series.

2. Virat Kohli:

Surprising inclusions and Virat Kohli ? That sounds a bit awkward, but yes, the inclusion of Virat Kohli in India’s T20I squad for the upcoming series against Afghanistan is a bit surprising. Given the fact that Virat Kohli had not played a single T20I game for India in the last 14 months since the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final against England, it wasn’t expected that he’d be back in the Indian T20I setup given how youngsters have been performing in the format.

But, seeing his inclusion for the upcoming series can make the life easier of his fans, who were expecting to see the modern-day legend in the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and USA.

Virat Kohli has so far played 115 T20Is for India and scored 4008 runs in 107 innings. He is still the only batsman to cross the 4000-run barrier in the format. In the annals of the ICC T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli has 1141 runs to his name in 25 innings at an outstanding average of 81.50, with 14 fifties to his name. He is the highest run-scorer among all players in the history of the Men’s ICC T20 World Cup.

It will be interesting to see if Virat Kohli finally lays his hands on the prestigious T20 World Cup trophy this year.

1. Rohit Sharma:

Since India’s exit from the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 following the semi-final loss to England, the then captain Rohit Sharma had not played a single T20I for the country. Looking at the same, it is really surprising to see Rohit Sharma back in the India T20I squad. The inclusion of Rohit Sharma in the squad for the forthcoming T20Is against Afghanistan now states clearly that he would be leading the side at this year’s blockbuster T20I event, ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in West Indies and USA as well.

Rohit Sharma, India’s only active member from the 2007 T20 World Cup winning campaign, has so far played 148 matches (most) and scored 3853 runs (second-most) including four centuries (joint-mot) in the shortest format of the game. Although Rohit Sharma’s numbers in the last two T20 World Cups aren’t that great, his captaincy is something which no one else brings to the table.

If Rohit Sharma plays with the same approach in T20Is for the next few months, which he did in ODIs last year during and before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, he can surely help his country bring glory home on 29th June, later in the year.

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