Rohit and Kohli back in India’s T20 squad ahead of World Cup

NEW DELHI (Reuters): Regular skipper Rohit Sharma and stalwart Virat Kohli returned to India’s T20 squad after a year’s gap for the home series against Afghanistan amid speculation about their future in this format.

Both the batters have not played T20 Internationals since India’s defeat to England in the semi-finals of the World Cup in Australia in November 2022.

While they have been active in other formats, speculation was rife whether they would play the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States in June.

Both Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, who shared the T20 captaincy burden in Rohit’s absence, were left out of the series against Afghanistan reportedly because of injuries.

Wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul missed out though the Indian cricket board did not offer any explanation for any of the omissions or inclusions in its statement on Sunday.

Pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have been rested, ostensibly to keep them fresh ahead of the five-test home series against England beginning later this month.

India kick off the series against Afghanistan in Mohali on Jan. 11 followed by matches in Indore and Bengaluru.

India T20 squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar