IND vs AFG: Senior Indian players set to be rested for the India vs Afghanistan Test match - Reports

The Indian players are currently busy in IPL 2026. Along with veteran players, uncapped players are also consistently showcasing their brilliance. After the conclusion of IPL, the Indian team is set to face the Afghanistan cricket team in a one-off test from June 6 to 10.  According to fresh reports, the BCCI has started to make plans for this test. 

The Ajit Agarkar selection committee is considering giving opportunities to young players for this Test match, while senior players may be rested to keep them fresh for upcoming major fixtures. It is anticipated that senior players—such as Captain Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and KL Rahul—will sit out this match, and their spots will be filled by emerging talents from the Ranji Trophy. Since this Test is not part of the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, the outcome of this match will have no bearing on the Indian team's WTC points tally.

Since there is not a sufficient gap between the IPL and one-off test, the selectors do not want to take any chances with the fitness of senior players, especially when India's Test and ODI cricket schedule is completely packed. The team is scheduled to play the ODI World Cup next year in 2027, and the WTC 2027 final will also be played before that. After the one-off test, the Indian team will also play a 3-match ODI series against the same opponent. Following that series, the Indian team will fly to England for a multi-format series. 

“There is not much gap between the IPL final and the Afghanistan Test, so the selectors and management will be wary of not burning out the players, as there are three ODIs, then the white-ball series in England. There are no WTC points in the Afghanistan Test, and the stakeholders need to carefully manage the workload because some of the players would be on the road for close to two months and have a lot of cricket in the remainder of the year,” a source said.

“ODIs and WTC are priority right now, and you want your best players to be fit, fresh and available for the four Tests - two vs Sri Lanka and two vs New Zealand - and the many ODIs. Why even risk a Bumrah for this Test?” the source added. 

Reports suggest that some fresh faces will be included in the team, including names such as Manav Suthar, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, and Devdutt Padikkal. 

“One thing is clear with this selection panel: they rarely jump the gun. It’s no secret that Gurnoor Brar and Manav Suthar, Harsh (Dubey), Auqib (Nabi) and Devdutt (Padikkal) have been very impressive. It will all boil down to the discussions between the think tank and the medical team because optimum utilisation of resources is going to be key here. No point putting your star players under the sun for a five-day fixture which offers no WTC points. 

“And there is little turnaround time between the Test and ODI series. So you will again be in the situation where a Test and ODI regular - say like Gill, Bumrah, KL Rahul and even Ravindra Jadeja - would switch formats from T20 to Test to ODIs in less than a month’s time. The captain and coach have been very vocal about such scheduling in the past and could have the final say,” the source added. 

The reports also stated that if the teams of key players are eliminated before the playoffs, they could be considered for Test matches.