India’s men’s cricket team has announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming one-off Test match against Afghanistan, scheduled to begin on June 6 in Mullanpur. The squad was selected by the national selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar.
The match will mark only the second-ever Test meeting between India and Afghanistan. Their first encounter came in 2018, when Afghanistan played its historic maiden Test match against India in Bengaluru.
Shubman Gill to Lead India
Young batter Shubman Gill has been appointed captain for the one-off Test, while experienced wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul will serve as vice-captain.
The squad also includes players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Sai Sudharsan and Kuldeep Yadav.
Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj will lead the pace attack alongside Prasidh Krishna.
India Squad for Afghanistan Test
- Shubman Gill (Captain)
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- KL Rahul (Vice-Captain)
- 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 Dominated the First Test Meeting
The previous Test between the two teams took place at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2018. India completely dominated the match, winning by an innings and 262 runs inside just two days.
Afghanistan were bowled out for 109 in their first innings and 103 in the second after being forced to follow on, while India posted a massive total of 474 runs.
One memorable moment after the match saw former India captain Ajinkya Rahane invite Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai and his team for a group photo with the trophy.
India Return to Red-Ball Cricket After Long Break
The Afghanistan Test will also mark India’s return to red-ball cricket after nearly six months. India last played a Test series against South Africa in November, where the visitors secured a 2-0 series victory under captain Temba Bavuma.
Since then, India have mainly focused on white-ball cricket and successfully defended their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title earlier this year.
Apart from the Afghanistan Test, India are also scheduled to play more Test matches later in 2026 against Sri Lanka and New Zealand as part of the ICC World Test Championship cycle.
