MUMBAI: Ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah has returned to the India T20I squad for the three-match series against Afghanistan.
Although the series is in India, Afghanistan are the official hosts. The three matches are scheduled to run from 13 to 17 September 2026 in New Delhi.
Bumrah’s inclusion comes alongside Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana and Washington Sundar, who are subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI’s Center of Excellence.
Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel are also back in the lineup after missing the series against Zimbabwe in July. Hardik Pandya remains on the sidelines due to injury and was not included in the squad.
Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy has also returned to the squad after suffering a hamstring injury during the England tour and being rested for the Zimbabwe series.
The exclusions from India’s previous squad were Rinku Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Harsh Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Ashok Sharma, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav and Yash Thakur.
With Asian Games 2026 looming, Bumrah’s presence will bolster India’s bowling lineup. The right-arm pacer suffered an injury that ruled him out of the Test series against Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Rana and Washington had also suffered hamstring injuries on the tour of England, while Reddy injured his quadriceps during the ODI series against Afghanistan in June.
India squad for Afghanistan T20Is
Shreyas Iyer (capt), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar*, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah*, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana*
*Subject to fitness clearance
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