India and Afghanistan meet each other in a one-off Test at the newly-constructed Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh, from June 6. The game will go on till June 6 if all five days are played. India, despite not knowing the conditions well (this is the first Test to be played at this venue), will have an edge due to their superior squad. One of the biggest shocks, however, was the absence of Auqib Nabi from their squad.
The right-arm seamer was one of the standout performers for Jammu and Kashmir in their 2025-26 Ranji Trophy-winning squad, and yet he found no place in the India squad. The selectors, instead, chose to go with Gurnoor Brar, who has played far fewer first-class matches than Nabi. Afghanistan, on the other hand, appear even more inexperienced. Rashid Khan has been given a break since he is carrying an injury, which prevents him from bowling long spells. Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, therefore, will have to look at other options to torment the Indian batters.
The visitors will have to bat extremely well against India if they are to put up a challenge at all. India have a strong bowling unit comprising Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav. These bowlers will stick to their lines and lengths and prevent the Afghan batters from scoring freely. The likes of Ibrahim Zadran, Afsar Zazai and Shahidi himself will have to stand tall and bat for long periods of time. For the home team, captain Shubman Gill will be one to watch out for with the bat, alongside KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, both of whom ply their trade in the top order.
Predicted Teams
IND: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav.
AFG: Rahmanullah, Ibrahim Zadran, Hasmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmat Shah, Afsar Zazai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Qais Ahmad, Bilal Sami, Ziaur Rahman, Mohammed Saleem.
Key Players
KL Rahul (IND): Opener KL Rahul is one of the most classy players in the Indian squad. Rahul is known for timing the ball extremely well by getting in line comfortably. The Karnataka batter can pick the length of each delivery quickly, and that is what gives him so much time to play his shots. Rahul is also a wicketkeeper, but Rishabh Pant is expected to don the big gloves in this game. Rahul comes into this match on the back of a good run of form in the Indian Premier League.
Azmatullah Omarzai (AFG): Azmatullah Omarzai is one of the key players in this Afghanistan lineup. The all-rounder can trouble the Indians both with bat and ball. With the bat in hand, Omarzai is expected to walk out to bat in the lower middle order. While he is renowned for hitting the ball a long way, Omarzai can also build long innings by rotating the strike. With the ball in hand, the medium pacer has a happy knack of picking up wickets when his team needs them the most.
Match Prediction
India are the favourites, simply because they have a more balanced squad. The visitors are quite inexperienced in this format of the game. And without Rashid, they are bound to look even more out of their depth. India know their strengths well, and although their middle-order appears a tad inexperienced, the other departments can cover up well. India's bowlers, especially, have an upper hand over the Afghans with their better quality.