Virat will not play the first T20, coach Dravid also gave the reason for not including Ishan-Shreyas in the team
Rohit and Kohli have returned to the T20 team after almost a year.
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The three-match T20 series between India and Afghanistan is going to start from Thursday. Both the teams are preparing vigorously for this series. This series is very important for the Indian team, because this will be Team India's last T20 series before the T20 World Cup. Head coach Rahul Dravid spoke to the media on the eve of the first T20 match against Afghanistan.
Virat Kohli will not play the first T20
During this time, Dravid has said that Virat Kohli will not play in the first match to be held in Mohali. The coach said that Virat has decided not to play the first T20 due to personal reasons. He will be available for the second and third T20. Dravid also said that during this series, the pair of Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will be seen opening for Team India.
Rohit-Yashasvi will open
It is clear from the opening pair of Rohit and Yashasvi that the team management is including both of them in the World Cup plans and Shubman Gill is not in the plan at present. Shubman's form in this format has also been poor recently. He could not do anything special in the T20 series against South Africa. Rohit and Yashasvi will open for the first time in limited overs cricket. Before this, both have played important partnerships in Tests.
Indian team has reached Mohali for the T20I series against Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/OmH9PGkMZd
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 10, 2024
Virat-Rohit return to Indian team after 14 months
After the T20 World Cup 2022, Virat and Rohit have been included in the Indian team for a T20 series for the first time. Both of them have returned to the T20 team after about 14 months. In such a situation, the chances of both of them playing in the T20 World Cup to be held in June have increased. The first T20 between India and Afghanistan will be played on January 11 in Mohali, the second T20 on January 14 in Indore and the third T20 on January 17 in Bengaluru. Meanwhile, the Indian team has also reached Mohali. India's star batsman Rinku Singh shared a picture of the team bus in Chandigarh a few hours ago. In this, Kuldeep Yadav is seen sitting with him.
Dravid admitted that India has to play only one T20 International series before the T20 World Cup 2024 and hence the performance of the players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will play an important role in the team selection for the World Cup. ICC has released the schedule of T20 World Cup 2024. This tournament will be held between 1-29 June between 20 teams. The first match will be between Canada and America on June 1. Whereas, the final match will be played on 29th June on the ground of Barbados. India's first match will be against Ireland on June 5. Whereas, India Pakistan match will be played on June 9. Click here to read the complete schedule...
Dravid said this about Ishaan and Shreyas
The India head coach also revealed that Ishan Kishan has taken a break from cricket and was unavailable for selection for the T20 series against Afghanistan. This is the reason why he is not in the squad. At the same time, it was claimed in media reports that Shreyas Iyer is out of the T20 series against Afghanistan because BCCI had taken disciplinary action against him. However, India head coach Rahul Dravid has dismissed the rumours. Dravid said, 'Shreyas Iyer did not get a place because there were many batsmen in the team. No disciplinary action has been taken. These are fake news.