Team India has unveiled its 16-member squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, marking the return of captain Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli to the shortest format. The last time the duo played together was in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final against England, and they have been absent from the series for the past 14 months.

During Rohit’s absence, all-rounder Hardik Pandya assumed the captaincy, with widespread speculations about him leading the team in the T20 World Cup. However, a last-minute injury to Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, who captained the team in the last two series, prompted the team management to bring back Rohit Sharma as the captain.

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Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has also expressed his support for Rohit Sharma leading the side in the upcoming T20 World Cup. Ganguly stated, “Of course, Rohit should captain the team in the T20I World Cup. Virat Kohli also should be there. Virat Kohli is an outstanding player, nothing will happen (even if they are coming back to T20 fold after a long gap).”

Both Kohli and Rohit stand as the top two run-scorers in T20I history, with 4008 and 3853 runs, respectively. Kohli’s T20 World Cup record is particularly impressive, as he is the leading run-scorer in the tournament, amassing 1141 runs from 25 innings with an average of 81.50 and 14 half-centuries.

Virat Kohli secured the Player of the Tournament title in consecutive editions in 2014 and 2016, finishing as the leading run-scorer in 2014 (319 runs) and 2022 (296 runs).

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The three-match T20I series against Afghanistan is scheduled to commence on Thursday, January 11, at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. Looking ahead, the T20 World Cup 2024 is set to kick off on June 1 in the West Indies and the USA.