India National Cricket Team vs Afghanistan National Cricket Team: Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for India’s upcoming multi-format series against Afghanistan due to workload management, chief selector Ajit Agarkar confirmed on Tuesday. The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the squads for the multi-format series, with Bumrah among the notable absentees alongside all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.
Agarkar said Bumrah has been rested to carefully manage his workload ahead of India’s upcoming international assignments, including the tour of England and the next World Test Championship cycle.
“Bumrah will be back when we tour England. He is working on his workload,” Agarkar said during the press conference following the squad announcement.
Bumrah’s absence opened the door for several fresh faces in the Indian setup. Left-arm pacer Gurnoor Brar received his maiden call-up in both the Test and ODI squads, while uncapped fast bowler Prince Yadav earned a place in the ODI squad.
India also handed opportunities to spin-bowling all-rounders Harsh Dubey and Manav Suthar following the omission of Jadeja and Axar Patel.
Explaining the decision to leave out Jadeja and Axar from the ODI squad, Agarkar said the team management wanted to assess new options ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.
“"With regards to one-day cricket, we have 15-16 months left to that World Cup. Somewhere around there, we want to obviously try and assess what our options are, particularly keeping in mind the conditions in South Africa, and give a little bit of exposure to some of the newer guys. We know what Ravindra Jadeja or Axar Patel can do. This is the time we try and give some opportunity to some of the other guys,” Agarkar said.
Agarkar, however, clarified that Jadeja continues to remain an important part of India’s Test plans despite being rested for the Afghanistan Test.
“Ravindra Jadeja has been rested for this Test. He is aware of it. He still remains a very integral part of the Test team,” he added.
India will face Afghanistan in a one-off Test in Mullanpur from June 6 to 10, followed by a three-match ODI series later in the month.
India Test squad vs Afghanistan
Shubman Gill (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vice-captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper).
India ODI squad vs Afghanistan
Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey.
