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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the T20I squad for India's upcoming three-match home series against Afghanistan on Sunday, January 7.
Stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have made a comeback into the side after a gap of 14 months. This is the first time they will be playing T20Is after the loss in the 2022 World Cup semi-final against England in Adelaide.
The focus over the last year has been on the ODI format as the senior duo prepared for the 2023 World Cup, skipping several T20I series. Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav led the side in Rohit Sharma's absence during this phase.
However, the selectors have now opted to put their faith in Rohit Sharma once again and given him the nod as the captain for the upcoming series.
Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Ruturaj Gaikwad were unavailable for selection due to their injury issues. The likes of KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan failed to make it to the squad. The selectors gave a chance to left-handers Rinku Singh and Tilak Verma for the middle-order role.
On the bowling front, regular pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami were rested. Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, and Mukesh Kumar will handle the pace department in their absence.
Indian cricket fans on social media took note of the Indian squad for the Afghanistan series and expressed their views by sharing memes.
Here is a collection of the best memes:
Team India squad for T20I series vs Afghanistan:
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
Complete Schedule of India vs Afghanistan T20I series
Match 1: January 11 (Thursday) | Venue: Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali | Time: 7 pm IST
Match 2: January 14 (Sunday) | Venue: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore | Time: 7 pm IST
Match 3: January 17 (Wednesday) | Venue: M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru | Time: 7 pm IST
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