3 Indian players for whom the Afghanistan T20Is are make or break ft. Tilak Varma

Team India are gearing up for their final T20I assignment ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup as they face off against Afghanistan in three matches, with the series opener scheduled to be held in Mohali on Thursday, January 11.

The Men in Blue haven't named a full-strength squad for the series, with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja missing from action. At the same time, however, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have returned to the T20I squad amid contrasting opinions about the same.

Given that India will not have any more games to finalize their T20 World Cup squad - apart from the Indian Premier League (IPL), of course - they will likely make a few selection calls based on how the series goes. Some players are in competitive spots and might need to be at their best during the upcoming three-match rubber.

Here are three Indian players for whom the Afghanistan T20Is are a make-or-break assignment.

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#3 Arshdeep Singh

Arshdeep Singh was the star of the show in the ODI series against South Africa towards the end of last year. The left-armer broke a lean run of white-ball form to walk away with the Player of the Series award in the only rubber India won in the Rainbow Nation.

However, Arshdeep has been far from his best in T20s for a while now. He wasn't consistent during the last edition of the IPL, and his international form has been unconvincing too. The youngster's overreliance on the yorker and general lack of accuracy have cost him dearly at the death.

Arshdeep is India's premier left-armer in the shortest format, but another bad outing could spell doom for his place in the side. Bumrah, Siraj and maybe even Mohammed Shami are in line to return to the squad soon, and the Men in Blue might not need additional pacers in the West Indies and USA.

ODIs and T20Is are different ball games altogether, and Arshdeep simply has to prove his worth in the latter.

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#2 Jitesh Sharma

Jitesh Sharma has played seven T20Is till date, with 69 runs at an average of 13.8 and a strike rate of 150. He has played a couple of enterprising cameos, but the BCCI selectors haven't always been moved by innings that don't last long. Moreover, the keeper-batter has competition from several quarters.

Sanju Samson recently compiled his maiden international hundred and has made a comeback to the T20I squad after missing out on the last series, while Rahul Dravid claimed that Ishan Kishan wasn't available to take on Afghanistan. KL Rahul is never out of the picture, and Rishabh Pant is expected to return during IPL 2024.

So Jitesh, despite being the only one among the above names who consistently bats in the middle order and is fit, is facing a race against time to come up with displays that nail down his spot. The 30-year-old's explosiveness and fearlessness are valuable qualities, but he needs to combine them with a bit of application.

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#1 Tilak Varma

Tilak Varma has been shunted up and down the order lately, with the requirements of the team often varying based on the squad selected. The 21-year-old hasn't set the world on fire with his form in the recent past - he has either been outdone by new-ball swing or tried to hit the ball too hard and holed out.

The selectors seem intent on having Rohit and Kohli in the mix for the T20 World Cup, and that means that Tilak's job has just gotten tougher. Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya will also return once they recover, and middle-order slots are incredibly tough to come by.

Tilak's bowling and left-handedness could give him an edge, but India have barely brought him on. And as such, the youngster could easily be discarded if he has an underwhelming series against Afghanistan.