India vs Afghanistan, 1st T20I Predicted XI: Toss up between Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma in Mohali

India is all set to take on Afghanistan in the first T20I of their three-match series at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Thursday, January 11.

India come into this game as the top-ranked side in the shortest format of the game, while Afghanistan are placed 10th in the latest ICC rankings. In fact, the Men in Blue boast an unblemished record against the Afghans in T20Is. Afghanistan has never defeated India in T20Is, having lost four of the five matches played between them, with one ending in a no-result.

The match will also see the return of Rohit Sharma as captain, having not played white-ball cricket since India’s defeat in the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. Interestingly, this will be Rohit’s first T20I since India got knocked out in the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup against England.

He will be opening the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal, as confirmed by head coach Rahul Dravid. Shubman Gill is expected to bat at number 3 in the absence of Virat Kohli, who is missing this match due to personal reasons. Tilak Varma is expected to come in at number 4 followed by the hard-hitting Rinku Singh at number 5.

It will be a toss-up between Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma for the wicket-keeping option. Jitesh holds the edge over Samson, despite the Rajasthan Royals batter smashing his maiden international hundred in the final match of India’s ODI series against South Africa.

However, Jitesh has proved more effective down the order with Samson emerging as a better-suited top-order option. There could be a scenario where both Samson and Jitesh play with Samson batting at number 3 instead of Gill. Dravid and co. could be tempted to try this combination given Gill’s under-par T20I form.

Axar Patel will play as the lone spin-bowling all-rounder, with yet another toss-up between number 1 ranked T20I bowler Ravi Bishnoi and the vastly-experienced Kuldeep Yadav for the spinner’s spot.

Ashdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan are expected to form India’s pace-bowling trio. However, Shivam Dube could also get a look-in should India want to experiment with a fast-bowling all-rounder in the absence of Hardik Pandya.

As for Afghanistan, they will be without their talisman Rashid Khan, who has undergone a back surgery and has been ruled out of the three-match series. Ibrahim Zadran will be leading the side and opening the batting alongside the dangerous, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who smashed his maiden T20I hundred against UAE recently.

Veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi and star-performer of the 2023 ODI World Cup, Azamatullah Omarzai, will play as the two all-rounders in their side.

Young spinner Noor Ahmad is expected to replace Rashid in the team, with Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq and Qais Ahmad completing their bowling attack.

Predicted XI:

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan.

Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Najibullah Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, Qais Ahmad.