Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma To Open; Shreyas Iyer At No. 4: India's Predicted Starting XI vs Afghanistan For 1st ODI

After demolishing Afghanistan in the one-off Test match, India will face off against the Afghans in a 3-match ODI series. The waiting game continues for  Rohit Sharma, as several reports suggested he could be ruled out of the ODI series, while Yashasvi Jaiswal has already been named as a replacement for Virat Kohli for the ODI series.

India's Predicted XI Against Afghanistan For 1st ODI

Ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup, the Men In Blue are scheduled to take part in a number of ODI matches to fine-tune their preparations for the tournament. Virat's absence will be a huge gap to fill, while this will be Shreyas Iyer's first ODI series after he replaced Suryakumar Yadav as India's next T20I captain.

KKR head coach Abhishek Nayar has predicted India's starting XI against Afghanistan in the first ODI match to be played in Dharamshala. In an interaction with Star Sports, he said, "Open with Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma. Yashasvi Jaiswal will play at No. 3, Shreyas Iyer at No. 4, KL Rahul at No. 5, Hardik Pandya at No. 6, Washington Sundar at No. 7, and Harsh Dubey at No. 8.

“Arshdeep Singh at No. 9, and it will be Gurnoor Brar for me at No. 10, but Prasidh Krishna might play there. At No. 11, depending on conditions, either Kuldeep Yadav or an extra seamer.”

India ODI squad for Afghanistan Series

Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Yashavi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya*, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey.

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