The anticipation surrounding the India vs Afghanistan T20I series primarily revolves around the comeback of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to the T20I format.
The star batsmen’s last appearance in a T20I match was during the 2022 T20 World Cup, where India faced defeat in the semi-finals.
Since then, their participation has been limited to ODIs and Tests. However, with the impending T20 World Cup in 2024, the Indian cricket team management decided to include both players in the squad for this final T20I series before the global tournament. Nevertheless, during the pre-match press conference, Rahul Dravid disclosed that Virat Kohli would not be part of the playing XI in the opening T20I against Afghanistan on Thursday.
The BCCI selectors engaged in discussions with Virat Kohli to clarify expectations from him in the shortest format of the game for India. A meeting between BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar and Kohli reportedly took place in Cape Town, where they discussed the captain’s role and responsibilities in T20Is.
While the report did not specify whether similar discussions took place with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, it highlighted that Virat Kohli holds an impressive T20I record. Kohli has accumulated 4,008 runs in 115 matches at an average of 52.73, with a strike rate of 137.96. Additionally, Kohli recently achieved the milestone of becoming the first batter to score 2000 runs in seven different calendar years during India’s 1st Test against South Africa.
