India, having clinched the ODI series against Afghanistan with victories in the first two outings in Dharamshala and Lucknow, is set to try out the bench strength in the third and final game here on Saturday (June 20, 2026) .

Speaking ahead of the match, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate was full of praise for the young crop of Indian fast bowlers heading into next year’s ODI World Cup.

“When we got together in Chandigarh to see those young guys come in and bowl, it was literally like a wow moment. The way Gurnoor (Brar) has bowled in his first two games, and seeing a young Indian pacer hit 147-148 kph, is exciting,” said ten Doeschate.

“For the next 15 months, it’s purely around that (ODI World Cup). To amalgamate the talent with the guys coming through and get them up to speed, really, really quickly, is going to be the challenge for this group.”

On Kuldeep Yadav’s form, the former Dutch all-rounder backed the left-arm wrist-spinner to come good soon. “The way the game is evolving and the way guys go after the spin, the onus is back on the spinner to almost reinvent himself from time to time. Having Sairaj (Bahutule) in now, to work with the spinners on a lot of tactical things, game planning and trying to come up with new ideas, I think Kuldeep is travelling nicely, so no concerns about him,” he added.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan fielding coach John Mooney conceded that the current series has exposed the gulf between the two sides.

“The takeaway from the series is that skills-wise, they have a lot to do to catch up with this Indian team. I believe our players have fantastic skills as well. But the best players stick to the basics. They do the basics over and over and over and over, and I feel that that’s an area where our players could improve,” said Mooney.

Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and elected to bowl against India in the second ODI of the three-match series in Lucknow on Wednesday (June 17, 2026).

India, who are leading the series 1-0, handed debut to pacer Prince Yadav, who impressed in the IPL 2026 for Lucknow Super Giants.

However, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy will sit out of this match because of a quadricep injury. India has also brought in Kuldeep Yadav and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

For Afghanistan, Darwish Rasooli and Bilal Sami will made their debuts.

Teams:

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Ishan Kishan(wk), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav.

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Darwish Rasooli, Rashid Khan, Nangeyalia Kharoti, AM Ghazanfar, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Bilal Sami.

Star batter Virat Kohli will miss India’s three-match ODI series against Afghanistan later this month after failing to recover from a hamstring injury, and the selectors on Saturday (June 6, 2026) named Yashasvi Jaiswal as his replacement.

The three ODIs will be played at Dharamsala, Lucknow and Chennai on June 13, 17 and 20 respectively.

Kohli, who plays only one format after retiring from Test and T20, had suffered a hamstring injury during the recent IPL final between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad.

Kohli had made an unbeaten 75 to fire RCB to their second IPL title in a row.

“With Virat, at this point, it’s just been less than a week since he injured himself in the finals. We will assess him (but) we don’t know the timelines yet,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar told reporters during a press conference at the BCCI headquarters.

“Yashasvi will be his replacement. But it looks like he (Kohli) might be fit for that England one-day series (in July) but again, it’s not a definitive answer.

“So, don’t hold me to it. I haven’t had a clear timeline from the physio yet,” Agarkar added.

An all-format player for India, Jaiswal has only played four ODIs since making his debut against England in February 2025. The left-hander had scored a match-winning 116 — his maiden ODI ton — against South Africa at Visakhapatnam.

Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said former skipper Rohit Sharma will be heading to the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru where all-rounder Hardik Pandya is nearing completion of his rehabilitation.

“Hardik is in COE Bangalore. He is going to a rehabilitation programme and very soon he will go for the final phase (of recuperation) and will be in the process of clearance,” Saikia said.

Pandya has been named in the ODI squad to face Afghanistan but he was omitted from squads to tour Ireland and England, and for the Asian Games keeping his workload in the 50-over format in mind.

Former skipper Rohit, who also now plays only the one-dayers, too suffered a hamstring injury during the IPL which restricted his appearances for Mumbai Indians to just nine matches this season.

“As far as Rohit is concerned, he is also visiting COE in two or three days’ time. We are following a process for each player who is suffering from any kind of injury and what is the rehabilitation programme.

“They have to be finally cleared from the COE to our technical team here. So, the process is on and we are awaiting their final fitness clearance,” Saikia added.

Updated Indian squad for ODIs against Afghanistan

Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey.

Virat Kohli is set to miss India’s forthcoming ODI series against the Afghanistan national cricket team because of a hamstring injury sustained during the IPL final earlier this week.

Kohli — who now features exclusively in the 50-over format for India — was visibly struggling while anchoring Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s chase against Gujarat Titans in Sunday’s IPL final. The Hindu understands that the injury to his right hamstring has aggravated since then.

The senior national selection committee is scheduled to meet on Saturday — coinciding with the opening day of the Test match in New Chandigarh — to finalise squads for the upcoming tours of Ireland and England.

The Hindu understands that a detailed fitness update on Kohli, along with reports concerning Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, will be presented during the meeting. Both Rohit and Hardik had been picked in the ODI squad subject to fitness clearance, and suitable replacements, if required, are expected to be announced after the meeting.

Kohli last played international cricket in January and was widely expected to carry his outstanding IPL form into the ODI setup after another prolific season.

The veteran batter finished IPL 2026 with 675 runs and played a central role in helping RCB secure a second consecutive title. However, even during the franchise’s post-match celebrations, Kohli appeared to be moving gingerly on the dance floor in videos released by the franchise — suggesting the extent of discomfort caused by the injury.

The three-match ODI series will begin in Dharamsala on June 13.

Flamboyant wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) removed as vice-captain of the Indian Test squad for the upcoming one-off match against Afghanistan and dropped from the ODI line-up for the ensuing three-match series against the same opponents.

K.L. Rahul replaced Pant as the vice-captain of the Indian Test team that is being led by Shubman Gill. Senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been rested from the Test match.

The Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI senior men’s selection committee met in Guwahati to finalise India’s squads for the home assignment against Afghanistan. The assignments include a one-off Test in Mullanpur starting June 6, followed by three ODIs scheduled from June 14 across Dharamsala, Lucknow, and Chennai.

Spin bowler Manav Suthar and pacer Gurnoor Brar have earned maiden call-ups to the Test squad. Both are teammates at IPL franchise Gujarat Titans, while Prince Yadav is the new face in the ODI line-up, with Ishan Kishan being the second wicket-keeper.

India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was rested from one-off Test and ODI series against Afghanistan as part of his workload management.