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Xtra Time Web Desk: The Senior Men’s Selection Committee on Sunday announced a 16-member India’s squad for the upcoming three match T20I series against Afghanistan.  Star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have both made a comeback in T20I squads. Rohit has been named the captain as well. It was on the expected lines the moment both Rohit and Virat made themselves available for T20 format to chief selector Ajit Agarkar during the recent meeting in CapeTown.

Both Rohit and Virat last featured in this format during the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final match against England at the Adelaide Oval in Australia. Kohli was the top scorer in T20 World Cup 2022 as he amassed 296 runs at a strike-rate of 136.4 while Rohit scored 116 runs at a strike-rate of 106.42.

The two-star players played only the IPL 2023 in between and were not available for any T20 matches since then. In their absence, plenty of young players, who had been consistent in the Indian Premier League, were given opportunities and the likes of Yashaswi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma gave good account of their skills in the chances which came their way.

Also Read: Virat & Rohit should be in the T20 World Cup side: Sourav Ganguly

The selectors have rested the frontline pacers in the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami keeping in mind the upcoming five match test series against England. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul has also been given a break. Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Ruturaj Gaikwad are not kept in the side as they are all recovering from injuries.

Shivam Dube has been named as an all-rounder in place of Hardik. Jitesh Sharma and Sanju Samson are the two-specialist wicket-keeper batters in the side.

India’s Squad for 3 T20Is against Afghanistan: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar

The three-match T20I series kickstarts in Mohali on January 11, 2024.

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