Team India bowling coach Morne Morkel said there’s no concern about veteran opener Rohit Sharma’s fitness ahead of the first ODI against Afghanistan in Dharamsala on Saturday, June 13. The veteran sustained a hamstring injury in the middle stages of the recent IPL 2026, forcing him to miss five of the 14 games as well. However, he has cleared all the prerequisites for complete fitness and is ready to take the field.

In the pre-game press conference, Morkel said: “He’s passed all his fitness tests. He’s cleared and ready to go. Obviously, the balls are coming at high speeds, and you want to protect yourself, even if there’s a slight niggle. But I can assure you there’s nothing wrong. Rohit is moving well and training well. So excited to see him go.”

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“Always nice to have his experience back as well. Just the calmness that he brings to the dressing room is always a positive to have. He’s training well, he’s moving well. So I know that he’s also excited to go,” he added again.

Morne Morkel further opined on India’s No.3 for the Afghanistan ODI series with Virat Kohli absent due to injury as well. The bowling coach also confirmed that the team will likely rotate between KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, and Yashasvi Jaiswal for that position.

“In terms of that number three slot, that’s something that in this series we’ll play around with. Even if it’s Ishan or KL or Yashasvi, it’s a nice opportunity now. We’ve got a couple of one-day games coming up, and we’ll give guys opportunity in different slots. Just to give ourselves a better idea in terms of how we can go and structure the team and have different options,” concluded Morne Morkel.