NEW DELHI: Krunal Pandya has hinted that his hopes of returning to worldwide cricket stay alive after the all-rounder was unnoticed of India’s squad for the upcoming three-match T20I sequence towards Afghanistan.Shortly after the squad was announced on Tuesday, Krunal shared a poignant message on social media, writing: “Hope continues to be alive”.The 35-year-old left-arm spinner has been pushing for a return to India’s T20I setup and, as reported earlier by TimesofIndia.com, had emerged as an choice for the selectors following India’s latest outings in Eire and England.Afghanistan will host India for 3 T20Is in New Delhi on September 13, 15 and 17, with the Arun Jaitley Stadium set to stage all three matches.
Krunal misses out regardless of robust IPL season
Krunal final performed for India within the 2021 T20I sequence towards Sri Lanka however has remained on the selectors’ radar following a formidable IPL 2026 marketing campaign.Taking part in for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Krunal picked up 14 wickets through the season and as soon as once more showcased his worth as a left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder.India have been exploring choices in that division after their latest T20I assignments. Axar Patel featured in all seven matches towards Eire and England, however managed solely 4 wickets — two within the two T20Is towards Eire and two in 4 video games towards England.The selectors opted towards recalling him for the Afghanistan sequence.His social media message suggests he stays hopeful of one other alternative with India.
Bumrah returns, a number of gamers topic to health
Tempo spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has returned to the squad for the Afghanistan sequence, though his choice is topic to health clearance.Bumrah had been sidelined after sustaining an influence damage to his knee throughout India’s ODI sequence in England. He subsequently missed the two-Check sequence in Sri Lanka after being suggested relaxation by the BCCI medical workforce.Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana have additionally been included topic to health clearance. All three have lately handled accidents and are presently beneath Return to Play protocols.Rana suffered a Grade 1 hamstring damage throughout India’s third T20I towards England, whereas Washington sustained a hamstring damage through the third ODI towards England. Reddy had additionally been recovering from an damage that dominated him out of India’s latest assignments.As reported earlier by TimesofIndia.com, Hardik Pandya has additionally missed out after a late leg niggle disrupted his comeback plans on the BCCI Centre of Excellence. He has not performed aggressive cricket since turning out for Mumbai Indians on Could 24, whereas his final look for India got here within the T20 World Cup remaining on March 8.
India Squad for Afghanistan T20Is
- Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma (vc), Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar*, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah*, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana*.
(*Topic to health clearance)
