IND v AFG, 1st T20I: Captain Rohit Sharma back as time-strapped India begin auditions for T20 World Cup

India will begin the last leg of their preparation for the T20 World Cup when they take on Afghanistan in a 3-match series, starting January 11 in Mohali. India had followed a forward-thinking plan for the shortest format of the game over the last 14 months, keeping in mind the disappointments from the previous two editions of the T20 World Cup. However, with less than 6 months to go for the premier tournament, starting June 1, India seem to have taken the safer route, bringing back their veteran stars, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, after months-long speculation over their T20 international futures.

Rohit Sharma joined the team directly during training on the eve of the first T20I on a chilly evening in Mohali while Virat Kohli will miss the series opener due to personal reasons. The two stalwarts are back in the T20I mix for the first time since the team's defeat to England in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final in Adelaide in November that year.

IND vs AFG, 1st T20I: Predicted Playing XIs

Only time will tell if the return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli is a boost to India's T20 World Cup hunt, but their slotting straight back into the team's plans has made life difficult for younger stars who were trying to find their foot in the senior national team last year. Rohit and Kohli along with KL Rahul did not play any T20I last year as they were focused on preparing for the ODI World Cup in October-November. India will not have the services of Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav -- the two men who stood in for Rohit last year in T20Is -- due to injury concerns in the upcoming T20I series.

Afghanistan are yet to win a T20I against India, but they will fancy themselves to give the home team a good test. The visitors will miss injured Rashid Khan, but they have enough firepower in the side to put on a show in familiar conditions. The return of Mujeeb Ur Rahman after the central contract row is a big boost to the visiting side, who also have the services of Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Head coach Rahul Dravid called for flexibility from the players while conceding that there is not enough time to prepare with a full squad from here for the World Cup. India will play only 3 T20Is between now and the World Cup and coach Dravid was quick to point out that IPL 2024 will play a part in the selection for the showpiece event, which will be held in the USA and the West Indies.

"We might not get too many chances to play together, so we will have to work around that. You just need to adapt and be flexible. We had a good preparation leading into the one-day World Cup. Even before the last T20 World Cup, we had a lot of games together as a group. This time we won't have that probably, but it is all about adapting while going ahead," Dravid said.

FLEXIBILITY CLAUSE ONLY FOR YOUNG GUNS?

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, as pointed out by quite a few former cricketers, seem to be certainties for the T20 World Cup. It is safe to say that Rinku Singh has put himself on top of the pecking order with some scintillating performances since his debut in August. With 262 runs, which includes a half-century in South Africa, at a strike rate of 180 and an average of 60, India would want to keep Rinku in the mix in the lead-up to the World Cup.

All the flexibility and the adaptation need to come from the younger stars, who will be locked in an intense battle for tickets to the World Cup in June.

Head coach Dravid confirmed on Wednesday that Yashasvi Jaiswal will be Rohit Sharma's opening partner, which leaves Shubman Gill in a spot. Dravid also confirmed that there was no place for Shreyas Iyer while he doused the fire around Ishan Kishan unavailability, saying that the young wicketkeeper did not make himself available after the break he took due to personal reasons during the Test series in South Africa.

The likes of Shubman Gill and Tilak Varma have shown flashes of brilliance in T20I cricket, but they need to buckle up and prove a point in the nex few months as Virat Kohli is likely to take up the No. 3 spot and Suryakumar Yadav the No. 4 spot in the World Cup line-up.

JITESH VS SAMSON?

India also brought back Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube to the T20I team and it remains to be seen if the two players will get opportunities in the 3-match series against Afghanistan. India need backups for the wicketkeeper role and the fast-bowling all-rounder role and hence Samson and Dube might get a game or two in the next few days.

On the other hand, India are likely to give Jitesh Sharma an extended run, considering the spark that he showed as a lower-order finisher in the limited opportunities he got last year.

The bowling department also can't breathe easy as Rahul Dravid dropped the names of Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj when talking about workload management in the lead-up to the Test series. The trio of the next-gen pacers, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh and Mukesh Kumar, has impressed in the recent past. They are likely to form the pace-bowling unit for the T20I series.

Axar Patel gets another opportunity to prove his mettle after having been overlooked for the T20Is in South Africa. Ravi Bishnoi won the Player of the Series award in South Africa but he faces stiff competition from Kuldeep Yadav. India also have Washington Sundar in the mix.

PITCH AND CONDITIONS

Mohali has always offered batting-friendly conditions and the dew in the evenings in the winter will only make it difficult for the chasing side. The broadcasters had said on Wednesday that the dew was not seen on the outfield until 7:30 pm, but it might change on the matchday.

The last time India played in Mohali, Australia chased down a 209-run target. India played two spinners and 4 pacers, including Hardik Pandya, in the game in September 2022.