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India national cricket team will take on Afghanistan national cricket team for a three-match ODI series. After defeating the Afghans by an innings and 300 runs in the one-off Test, Shubman Gill’s side will be looking to complete a clean sweep in the 50-over format as well. Before the match on Saturday, Rohit Sharma has joined the team and batted in the nets.
As per India Today report, the former all format captain joined India’s camp at the IS Bindra Stadium. Rohit Sharma was at the Center of Excellence on June 8 due to a hamstring injury he suffered during the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. However, he showed no signs of difficulty during an optional training session in Mohali.
Rohit fully fit to play against Afghanistan
Before starting the session, Rohit spoke to India’s strength and conditioning coach Adrian Le Roux. After this, Rohit and Ishan Kishan together did some light warm-up runs. The 39-year-old player completed about five sets without any pain or discomfort. This indicates that Rohit Sharma is fully fit and ready to go against Afghanistan over the weekend.
Rohit Sharma looked aggressive in the open nets against players like Nitish Kumar Reddy, Gurnoor Brar and Prince Yadav. All the bowlers troubled him initially as he was beaten on the outside edge and sometimes got a few shots wrong before getting back into rhythm as he pulled a few shots and some of Brar’s shots did not connect against the ball.
Rohit Sharma was looking very bad
After that, he looked comfortable and batted for 45 minutes against the fast bowlers, later spoke to India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak and then walked into the spinners’ nets to face Harsh Dubey, but the highlight during the net session was his hitting a straight six against an off-spinner. He will try to score some big runs and give himself some confidence.
Virat Kohli and star all-rounder Hardik Pandya have been ruled out of the ODI series against Afghanistan. Kohli suffered a hamstring injury during the IPL 2026 final, while Pandya suffered the injury during rehab at the COE after being declared fit at the last minute. The Mumbai Indians captain suffered a fresh leg injury, ruling him out of the three-match ODI series.
Yashasvi Jaiswal replaced Virat Kohli
India have named Yashasvi Jaiswal as Virat Kohli’s replacement in the upcoming series. The left-hander was dropped from the team despite scoring a century in his last ODI against New Zealand. However, it is unclear whether Jaiswal will open the batting at No. 3 alongside Rohit Sharma and Gill, filling Kohli’s shoes.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not announced a replacement for Hardik Pandya; However, it is believed that Nitish Kumar Reddy will be the obvious choice to start the game.
India’s ODI team: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey.
