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The Indian squad for the Afghanistan T20Is at home was finally announced, with the biggest headline being the inclusion of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Much of the past few days has centered around discussions and speculations about the pair being part of India's plans for the T20 World Cup in June.
While the latest developments confirmed Rohit and Kohli availability to play T20Is for India again, their selection was still hanging by a thread, as per several reports. Despite being the most accomplished Indian white-ball batters over the past decade, their inclusion wasn't automatic, considering their absence from T20Is since the 2022 World Cup.
India has since played seven bilateral T20I series, with Hardik Pandya leading a group minus the duo in most of them. Suryakumar Yadav replaced Hardik as captain in the previous two series against Australia and South Africa due to the latter's injury.
Kohli and Rohit were the leading run-scorers in the recent ODI World Cup, where India reached the final. The former also boasts an incredible record in T20Is, with an average of 52.73 and a strike rate of almost 138. Kohli was also the Player of the Tournament in the 2014 and 2016 T20 World Cups and the leading run-scorer in the 2022 edition.
Meanwhile, Rohit was not only back in the T20I squad but was also named the skipper. Although he boasts an outstanding overall T20I record, with an average of over 31 and a strike rate of almost 40, his recent form in the shortest format has been iffy.
Apart from his struggles in the last few IPLs, the 36-year-old averaged only 24.29 in T20Is in 2022.
Nevertheless, their inclusion had fans on Twitter buzzing, with several reactions welcoming the duo back into the squad. However, there were a few that pushed back on their selection.
Here are the best reactions:
Team India announce a 16-member squad for the three Afghanistan T20Is
Team India announced a strong 16-member squad for the three-T20I series against Afghanistan, starting Thursday.
Rohit Sharma will lead the side on return, with Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav out due to injury. Star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, the vice-captain during India's latest T20I series in South Africa, is not part of the squad.
Meanwhile, Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube have been included after the duo missed out on selection for the South African series. Pacers Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah are rested for the T20I series and should be back in action for the five-Test series that follows against England.
India T20I squad for Afghanistan series: 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, and Mukesh Kumar.
