Team India head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed on Wednesday that star batter Virat Kohli will miss the first T20 international against Afghanistan on January 11 due to personal reasons.
Dravid also informed that captain Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the batting for the Men in Blue.
The first T20I between India and Afghanistan will be played at the PCA stadium in Mohali on January 11.
Return of the big wigs
Both Rohit and Kohli have returned to the Indian T20I setup after more than a year ever since the Men in Blue's defeat in the World Cup semi-final in 2022.
Rohit and Kohli had informed the BCCI of their availability in T20I cricket before the team for the Afghanistan series was announced last week.
The veteran batters are very much in the reckoning for the next edition later this year in the West Indies and USA.
India missing key stars
Notably, the bilateral series against Afghanistan will be India's last international assignment in T20I cricket before the World Cup which starts from June 4.
India will be missing the services of key players Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, both of whom are recovering from ankle injuries.
Afghanistan on the other hand, will be without their bowling lynchpin Rashid Khan in the first T20I. The leg-spinner is recovering from a back surgery.
India T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashavi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
