The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on September 1, 2026, unveiled the Indian team squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan. The three T20I games are set to be played on September 13, 15, and 17, with the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi serving as the venue.
Shreyas Iyer will lead the side, while Sanju Samson returns after being rested from Zimbabwe T20Is. Varun Chakaravarthy also returns after recovering from his hamstring injury. Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Tilak Varma, and other regulars will be playing as well. However, we take a look at five players who were axed for the series.
Here are the 5 Indian players who were axed for the AFG vs. IND T20I series:
5. Jitesh Sharma
Once the first-choice wicket-keeper batter, Jitesh Sharma has fallen way behind Sanju Samson, and now Ishan Kishan is becoming the preferred keeper-batter. Jitesh had his chances, playing 16 T20Is and scoring 162 runs with a strike rate of 151.40. He failed to replicate the success with the bat he has had with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru for the Indian team and hence has lost his place in the Indian side.
4. Kuldeep Yadav
Once the blue-eyed boy of Indian white-ball cricket. Kuldeep Yadav has seemingly lost the confidence of the Indian captain and team management. Now the preference is for multi-faceted players and batting depth, meaning that there is no place for Kuldeep Yadav in the Indian XI. He managed only one game in the T20 World Cup and wasn’t picked for Ireland, England, or the Zimbabwe T20Is. He has been overlooked for Afghanistan T20Is as well, putting his future in jeopardy.
3. Rinku Singh
Rinku Singh has been another casualty of new Indian management’s penchant for batting depth and all-rounders. He last played for India in Zimbabwe T20Is but finds himself out of the India squad for the Afghanistan series at home in Delhi. In 35 T20I innings, he has scored 702 runs at an average of 36.94 and a strike rate of 156.34, yet he has to prove himself every time the talk of finishers happens.
2. Krunal Pandya
Krunal Pandya last played a T20I for India in 2021 and, despite some good performances, lost his place in the India white-ball side with the emergence and consistency of Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. Pandya has redeemed himself thanks to his big role in RCB’s two Indian Premier League wins in 2025 and 2026. Selectors have a renewed interest in Krunal Pandya as they seek other options.
1. Yashasvi Jaiswal
If Yashasvi Jaiswal were in any other team, he would be a permanent fixture across formats in international cricket. But in India, Jaiswal is still waiting for a chance in white-ball formats, despite having at least a century in both formats. Jaiswal scored two centuries in his last three ODIs and has a century in T20Is. However, he is consistently overlooked in white-ball formats, and the excuse is workload management.
