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Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar made their India debut: India national cricket team is set to host Afghanistan national cricket team for the first ODI of the three-match ODI series at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala. After a long break of almost four hours due to rain and wet outfield, the match will start at 5:45 pm and the toss will take place at 5:15 pm.
Before the toss, India announced two debutants for the first game, with Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar making their ODI debuts. Both the cricketers have been excellent in their respective formats and have earned their caps even before the match. The game is scheduled to be played of 25 overs each. Dubey was given the cap by KL Rahul, Brar was given the cap by Shubman Gill.
Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey made debut for India
Punjab’s young fast bowler Gurnoor Brar, who has performed well in domestic and India A cricket over the last one-and-a-half years, the selectors are keen to see his development keeping the 2027 ODI World Cup in mind. The height of 26 year old Gurnoor Brar is six feet five inches. He can break the deck hard, swing and seam the ball fast.
On the other hand, Harsh Dubey has bowled really well for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026; He was also present in the Test team along with Gurnoor Brar. Harsh’s ability to bat lower down the order will provide balance to the Indian team in this game.
India won the toss and bowled first
The weather has cleared, and the sun is out very well, and the forecast for the rest of the evening is good and there will be no rain. Shubman Gill has won the toss and decided to bowl first on a wicket which has been undercover most of the time today and yesterday also.
India are without Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya; However, Rohit Sharma is fully fit and today became India’s oldest cricketer to play an ODI match, surpassing Mohinder Amarnath’s 36-year-old record.
It’s all about trying different combinations-Shubhman Gill
During the toss, Shubman Gill said that the Men in Blue will try to use different combinations during this ODI series, which will provide them with a blueprint for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Shubman said, “We are going to bowl first. It is a bit cloudy, so I think that will help the bowlers. There may be some rain around the corner, so we want to bowl first. As for the surface, it looks very good. I think it will be a good wicket to bat on.”
“In the early overs, there might be some seam movement, but once the wind dies down, I think it will be a really good wicket. Honestly, for this series, it’s about trying different combinations and seeing what really works for us.”
“We don’t play that many ODIs now – before the World Cup, we were only playing 15 to 20 ODIs – so it’s about trying different combinations and seeing what our strengths are.”