India will be playing the historic one-off Test against Afghanistan at the Chinnaswamy stadium Stadium, Bangalore on 14th June. The regular Test captain of India, Virat Kohli will not be playing in the tie as he will be in England playing for Surrey. In his absence, India’s middle order batsman Ajinkya Rahane is the top contender to lead the side.
The occasion will officially mark Afghanistan’s entry into the Test arena. After Ireland, they will become the 12th nation to be playing Test cricket. Keeping the upcoming tour to England in mind, Virat has decided to focus on his form in England and will skip the Test match against the debutants.
With Virat being unavailable, the Indian captaincy is likely to be handed to Ajinkya Rahane who was out of the team for the first two Tests in South Africa. He was included in the third Test and played an intentful innings of 48 to take India to a winning position.
Already earmarked as India’s Test vice-captain, Ajinkya Rahane will be an automatic choice for the job. He has already led India in Test cricket once, this will be the second time when Rahane will lead India in the longest format. His first Test as the Test captain was against Australia in Dharamsala when Kohli was absent due to a shoulder injury.
At that time, Rahane led India to a victory and also claimed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after a period of five years. He will be looking to continue his winning record by winning this one-off Test match against Afghanistan and keep his record to 100%.
As per the TOI report, Cheteshwar Pujara will be returning to India to play the historic Test match. He is currently playing for Yorkshire in county cricket. Since Yorkshire be playing limited overs cricket on June 7, Pujara will have time to return to India. He will return to England to face Hampshire from June 20. Indian pace bowler Ishant Sharma will also be available to play the Test as he is playing for Sussex till 3rd June.
