Why are Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal not playing 1st T20I against Afghanistan 2024?

India and Afghanistan are locking horns in the first T20I of the three-match series on Thursday, January 11 at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali. India captain Rohit Sharma, who’s making a comeback to the T20I side after 14 months won the toss and elected to bowl first. There were several notable exclusions from the Indian playing XI as wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson, wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and seamer Avesh Khan missed out for the first T20I.

Apart from them, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was unavailable for selection due to a sore right groin. Notably, ahead of the series, head coach Rahul Dravid had stated that the southpaw would be seen opening the innings along with Rohit Sharma but unfortunately missed out due to his injury.

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In his place, Shubman Gill will be seen opening the innings along with the Indian skipper. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson also missed out on selection as Jitesh Sharma was picked as the wicketkeeper-batter. Notably, Sharma made his debut during the Asian Games 2023 and has played seven T20Is so far scoring 69 runs. On the other hand, Samson has managed to score 374 runs from 24 games at an average of 19.68 and a strike rate of 133.57 with one half-century.

Ravi Bishnoi picked ahead of Kuldeep Yadav

Another shocking exclusion was of left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav who finished as the leading wicket-taker of the last series against South Africa where he grabbed six wickets from two innings. In his place, wrist spinner Ravi Bishnoi has been given a go after he didn’t feature in the single game against South Africa. Bishnoi was the leading wicket-taker of the five-match T20I series against Australia picking nine wickets from five innings.

Following his remarkable performance, the 23-year-old climbed to the second spot in the ICC T20I bowlers’ rankings. Notably, it will be India’s last assignment ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024.