Why are Shubman Gill and Tilak Verma not playing 2nd India vs Afghanistan T20I?

India have made two big changes for the second T20I against Afghanistan at the Holkar Stadium in Indore despite comfortably winning the first match. Opening batter Shubman Gill and left-handed middle-order batter Tilak Verma have both been dropped, with Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal coming back into the team.

Rohit Sharma didn't specify any injury concerns at the toss, meaning the changes are tactical. Kohli missed the first game due to personal reasons and was always expected to slot back into the playing XI. Jaiswal, meanwhile, didn't play the game "due to a sore right groin", according to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Both Gill and Tilak failed to convert their starts in the first match. Gill made a quick 12-ball 23 after mistakenly running skipper Rohit out in the first over. Spinner Mujeeb-ur-Rahman then got Gill out stumped. Tilak, on the other hand, scored 26 (22) with the aid of two boundaries and a six before being dismissed by pacer Azmatullah Omarzai.

It looks like Kohli has replaced Tilak, who is yet to establish himself in the team despite a good start against West Indies last year. Gill, on the other hand, has apparently lost his place to Jaiswal, who has performed consistently in the IPL and international matches over the last few months and looks more settled as an opener.

Rohit and Jaiswal might open for India

Several thought India could go with Rohit and Kohli as openers for the match by just dropping Gill. But now, with Jaiswal returning, it's almost certain that the left-handed batter would open with the captain, with Kohli taking the No. 3 spot.

This would be Kohli's first T20I in over a year. The last time he represented India in the format was in the 2022 T20 World Cup, while the last time he played against Afghanistan was in the T20 Asia Cup that year. The former skipper scored a 61-ball 122 in that match, breaking his three-year-long century drought.