Karun Nair Replaces Virat Kohli For Afghanistan Test, Ajinkya Rahane To Lead Team India

Nair is India's second triple centurion in Test cricket after Virender Sehwag. He has scored 612 runs for his state this Ranji season.

Outlook Web Bureau

Updated on: 8 May 2018 6:12 pm

Karnataka middle-order batsman Karun Nair on Tuesday replaced skipper Virat Kohli for the one-off Test against Afghanistan from June 14-18 in Bengaluru, making an unexpected comeback to the squad.

Ajinkya Rahane will be leading India in the historic one-off Test with almost all the Test team specialists being a part of the 15-member squad.

The 26-year-old Nair is India's second triple centurion in Test cricket after Virender Sehwag. He has scored 612 runs for his state this Ranji season.

Kohli would be busy playing county cricket for Surrey when the match takes place here to prepare for the tour of England starting in July.

The batting star will, however, play in the two T20 Internationals against Ireland in Dublin where pacer Siddarth Kaul might get his maiden call-up in the shortest format after a string good performances in the ongoing IPL.

The Squads:

India Squad for one-off Test against Afghanistan: Ajinkya Rahane (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Shardul Thakur.

India Squad for two-match T20I series against Ireland: Virat Kohli (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(wk), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddharth Kaul, Umesh Yadav.

India Squad for three-match T20I series against England: Virat Kohli (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(wk), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddharth Kaul, Umesh Yadav.

India Squad for three-match ODI series against England: Virat Kohli (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(wk), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddharth Kaul, Umesh Yadav.