KL Rahul elevated as Test vice-captain as India include new faces for Afghanistan series

Why the elevation for Rahul?

“KL has been Test captain before. Obviously, Rishabh was vice-captain and we wanted him to be the best batter he can… So, no, there’s no reason [for the change in vice-captaincy]. That’s the best option we think at this point we have as far as vice-captain with experience [is concerned],” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said.

“We saw during the South African series as well when Shubman [Gill] got injured. And KL provides us the necessary experience you need in case the situation arises. Plus, he has obviously had a really good tour of England and against the West Indies.”

“Rishabh is an incredible Test player. Obviously, he is not part of the one-day squad at the moment… I don’t think there is any concern with his spot in the Test team. I think he is one of our main batters in that line-up. He had a really good tour of England until he got injured. I am sure he would like a few more [white-ball] runs, but he has always been very good in Test cricket.”

Rohit, Hardik’s participation subject to fitness

Brar and Dubey have also been included in the ODI squad, as has pacer Prince Yadav. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli continue to be part of the ODI squad. However, Rohit and Hardik Pandya’s availability is subject to fitness. Pandya has missed Mumbai Indians’ (MI) last three games in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 due to a back injury since last appearing for them on May 2.

Ishan Kishan, who last played an ODI in the 2023 World Cup against Afghanistan too gets a call-up to the Shubman Gill-led squad, after impressive performances in T20s. He played just three Vijay Hazare Trophy matches last season, smashing a century in one of them.

Want to try new players ahead of WC: Agarkar

Moreover, Jadeja and Axar Patel are not part of the ODI squad as Agarkar feels that the team needs to try new players in the build-up to the 2027 ODI World Cup.

“With regard 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 explained.

“You want guys who can contribute with the bat down the order but also have the necessary skill to be a front-line spin or a front-line seam bowler. We think he certainly fits the bill. We are hopeful that when he gets that opportunity, he shows what he can do. We have seen enough over the last couple of years, maybe a little bit more. He seems to have the necessary skill to succeed at this level,” Agarkar said about Dubey.

Afghanistan’s incoming tour of India will begin with the one-off Test in Mullanpur on June 6. The action will then shift to the three-match ODI series, from June 14, with the first game set to be played in Dharamsala. The action will then shift to Lucknow (June 17) and Chennai (June 20) for the remaining matches.

SQUADS

India Test squad for Afghanistan Test: Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vc), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel.

India squad for ODIs vs Afghanistan: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey

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