“Obviously, he is not part of the ODI squad at the moment,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said of Pant. “We want him to become the best Test player that he has always been. I don’t think there is any concern with his spot in the Test team. I think he is one of our main batters in that line-up. [He] had a really good tour of England till he got injured. So, I am sure he would like a few more runs. But he has always been very good in Test cricket. At this point, yes, we have gone with two different [wicketkeeping] options in one-day cricket. But Test cricket, he remains one of our main players.
“That’s the best option we think at this point that we have as far as vice-captain with experience,” Agarkar said of Rahul. “We saw during the South African series as well when Shubman got injured. And KL provides us with the necessary experience that you need in case the situation arises. Plus, he has obviously had a really good tour of England and against the West Indies.”
Brar, 25, has played only 18 first-class games and nine List A matches, but has already represented India A. He took 11 wickets in eight games in last season’s Vijay Hazare Trophy during Punjab’s run to the semi-finals. He was also the joint-top wicket-taker with eight scalps when India A hosted Australia A for two four-day matches in Lucknow in September 2025.
Suthar, 23, brings some more experience, having played 29 first-class games for 129 wickets at an average of 25.76, and has been a regular in India A sides across the three formats. In four-day games, he played against South Africa A in Bengaluru in October-November 2025. He also played for Rest of India against Vidarbha in the Irani Cup before that, where he took five wickets in the match and also scored an unbeaten 56 at No. 8 in the second innings.
Jammu & Kashmir fast bowler Auqib Nabi has been another promising name in the domestic circuit for the last few years, especially in their historic and maiden Ranji Trophy triumph earlier this year. Nabi was the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 60 scalps and was named the Player of the Tournament.
“There is always a chat around that,” Agarkar said of Nabi’s chances for selection. “You do not necessarily pick a lot of seamers when you pick a Test team in India. And he was close. But at this point, we have gone with the three that we have picked.”
India Test squad vs Afghanistan
Shubman Gill (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vice-capt) Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel
India ODI squad vs Afghanistan
Shubman Gill (capt), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-capt), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey
More to follow …
