India’s men’s selection committee, headed by Ajit Agarkar, has announced the squad for next month’s one-off Test against Afghanistan. The match, which is not part of the ICC World Test Championship, will
be played in Mullanpur from June 6.
This will be only the second Test meeting between India and Afghanistan, with the first coming in 2018.
India Squad For One-Off Test:
Shubman Gill (C), Jaiswal, KL Rahul (VC), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Padikkal, NKR, Sundar, Kuldeep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel.
India dominated that contest, sealing an innings victory inside two days. Afghanistan, playing their maiden Test match, were bowled out for 109 in the first innings and 103 in the second after being forced to follow on, while India posted 474 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
One of the enduring images from that historic match came after the victory, when India captain Ajinkya Rahane invited his counterpart Asghar Stanikzai and the entire Afghanistan squad for a group photo with the winner’s trophy.
Six-Month Red-Ball Break
This will be India’s first Test match since they hosted South Africa in November last year, when they endured a 0-2 clean sweep. The matches were played in Kolkata and Guwahati, with the Temba Bavuma-led tourists producing a dominant show.
Since then, the Indian team has been focusing on white-ball cricket, especially the T20Is as they went on to successfully defend their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title earlier this year in March.
Besides the Afghanistan contest, India are scheduled to play four more Tests in 2026, including against Sri Lanka and New Zealand – both the tours are part of the WTC.
