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Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah may be rested in the one-off Test against Afghanistan. The final of IPL 2026 is on 31st May and the international calendar of the Indian team is busy. Some players may get rest due to workload management.
At the same time, Harsh Dubey, Aaqib Nabi and Devdutt Padikkal may get a chance. All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has improved his bowling, due to which his name is in discussion. The selection committee will take the decision on the advice of the medical team rather than hastily.
There is a gap of only 6 days between IPL final and test match.
The final of IPL 2026 is on May 31, while the Test against Afghanistan will start from June 6. There are only 5-6 days between the two. The management is serious about the players’ fatigue and injury risk. The selectors will see what stage the IPL team of regular Test players reaches.
No pressure from WTC points table, seniors may be out
No WTC points are at stake in this only Test against Afghanistan. According to sources, the selectors and management want to keep the star players fresh for the ODI or England series. The management believes that it would be a risk to field an important bowler like Bumrah in such a match.
New faces may be seen in Mullanpur test
The selectors are keeping an eye on the domestic circuit for the Test starting in Mullanpur from June 6. If senior players get rest then young players can get debut. India-A fast bowler Gurnoor Brar and left-arm spinner Manav Suthar are leading the race.
Continuous series from June to July
The month of June is packed for the Indian team. After the Test and ODI against Afghanistan, the team will play a T-20 series against Ireland. After this there will be a tour of England, where there will be 3 T20 and 3 ODIs. After this, 3 T-20 matches against Zimbabwe will start from 23rd July.
Afghanistan started its test career against India only
Afghanistan started its Test career against Team India. In 2018, India won the match by an innings and 262 runs in Bengaluru. Since then, Afghanistan has played 13 Tests, winning 4, losing 7 and drawing 2.
Afghanistan could never defeat India
There have been 4 ODIs between Afghanistan and India, all in multinational tournaments. There were 2 matches in Asia Cup, 1 India won and 1 was tied in 2018. There were also 2 matches in the 2019 and 2023 World Cup, both of which India won. There will be an ODI series between the two for the first time.
There were 9 matches between the two in T-20 International. India won in 8, while one match in the Asian Games remained inconclusive. The only series of this format took place in 2024, in which India won 3-0.
