BCCI Fixes Selection Meeting Date: When Will Be Squad For Afghanistan Series Announced?

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee is expected to meet by September 3 to pick India’s squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan next month, with the BCCI likely to announce the team soon after the meeting.

India, who recently won their two-match Test series against Sri Lanka 1-0, will begin their next white-ball assignment on September 13. All three T20Is against Afghanistan will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, with the matches scheduled to begin at 7 pm IST.

According to a report in The Times of India, the selectors could stick with the squad picked for the 2026 Asian Games. If that happens, Shreyas Iyer is expected to lead India against Afghanistan. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan

and Tilak Varma could also retain their places in the squad after being part of the young group selected for the Asian Games.

Another name in contention is Varun Chakravarthy, who is reportedly fully fit and could return to the T20I setup. The selectors will also have to assess the fitness of Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Jasprit Bumrah before finalising the squad. Their availability could have a significant bearing on the team combination for the series.

Both Pandya and Reddy have dealt with major injuries and have missed several past weeks of action. Not having any fit pace all-rounders has been hurting India’s performance in white-ball cricket, because it makes it difficult to set a team balance. Shivam Dube has been tried, but unsuccessfully.

Not having a true pace all-rounder also deprives the team of the chance to play an extra attacking spinner, like Kuldeep Yadav.

As per the report, spin all-rounder Tilak Varma, who bats in the middle-order, could be pushed to bowl a few more overs. Tilak has shown in recent months that he can play as a finisher in the batting order, akin to Pandya, Reddy and Dube.