Team India will face a dangerous Afghanistan in the first ever white-ball series between the two teams, which begins in Mohali on Thursday.
The three-match series will be India’s last before the T20 World Cup in June, giving the team more clarity on its position ahead of the ICC event in the Americas.
Head coach Rahul Dravid on Wednesday admitted that Indian players won’t get too many chances to play as a group ahead of the T20I World Cup, and said they need to stay mentally flexible ahead of June’s showpiece event .
“After the last T20I World Cup (2022), we prioritized the ODI World Cup. But we don’t have many T20I matches after that (ODI WC),” Dravid said in his pre-match conference.
« So this World T20I Championship is slightly different in the sense that (there is) not much time to prepare for it. We have to build on the cricket that we have and also a little bit on the IPL . »
Dravid emphasized the need for players to remain adaptive in situations where they collectively do not get playing time.
Some of the top players like pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will not play the three-match T20I series against the Afghans.
“It is impossible for all players to play all the time, especially for players who play in all three formats. We had to prioritize what was important. Bumrah, Siraj and Jadeja missed this series as keeping in mind the five-Test home Test series against England. So we’ve always played a little bit of that juggling act over the last couple of years,” he said.
The focus will be on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as they return to the T20 format after a gap of 14 months. Virat Kohli will miss the first T20 International against Afghanistan due to « personal reasons », Dravid said on Wednesday.
The former Indian captain will be available for the next two matches, Dravid said, adding, « Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma will open the innings » for India in the series opener.
Rohit will be expected to continue his ultra-aggressive approach in the powerplay, as he showed during the ODI World Cup.
One would expect India to win comfortably on their terms, but Afghanistan will give them a run for their money.
Having recently exceeded all expectations during their bruising series at the ODI World Cup in India, Afghanistan will be very confident in the format that suits them best.
Barring Rashid’s enforced injury absence, the squad is complete after Mujeeb Zadran, Naveen-Ul Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi sorted out their contractual issues with the country’s cricket board.
