Sanju Samson
However, Sanju Samson , pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy have returned as India named a near-full-strength squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in Delhi from Sept 13-17. Bumrah, who last played a T20I in India’s T20 World Cup final win over New Zealand on March 8, has been included subject to fitness after a recurrence of a left knee injury forced him to miss the final ODI in England at Lord’s and the subsequent Test series in Sri Lanka. We will know about their fitness status for this series before Sept 9,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told TOI. The all-rounder has not played since India’s T20 World Cup triumph in March, while his last competitive outing came for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026 on May 24.
MUMBAI: Hardik Pandya’s comeback to India T20I side has been delayed again, with the star all-rounder yet to regain full fitness. Shreyas Iyer will continue as captain, with Tilak Varma serving as vice-captain. Samson, rested for Zimbabwe series, returns as one of two specialist wicketkeepers alongside Ishan Kishan. He is among eight changes from that squad, with Rinku Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Harsh Dubey, Prabhsimran Singh, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Mayank Yadav and Ashok Sharma making way. “Four cricketers have been picked subject to fitne-ss. Hardik’s absence remains the biggest talking point. A leg strain, sustained shortly after he was initially picked, ruled him out of Ireland and England white-ball tours and continues to keep him sidelined. Squad : India’s squad: Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson WK, Ishan Kishan WK, Tilak Varma VC, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana.