Rahane to lead India vs Afghanistan Test, Rayudu returns to side for England ODIs

Bengaluru: With Virat Kohli opting to play County cricket to prepare for the England tour, Ajinkya Rahane was named India’s skipper for one off Test against Afghanistan as the Indian selectors announced squad here on Tuesday.

While Karun Nair made a comeback to the Indian squad, R Ashwin managed to retain his place in the 15-man squad for the Bengaluru Test, which will commence on June 14.

Mohammed Shami, who has been accused of attempt to murder and rape by his wife Hasin Jahan, has been included in the one-off Test, but failed to make it in the limited-overs squad for England.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma was a notable absentee in the 15-man squad for the Test.

Shami last represented India in limited-overs cricket in 2017.

India squad for lone Afghanistan Test: Ajinkya (Captain), Shikhar, Vijay, KL Rahul, Pujara, Karun Nair, Saha (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Umesh, Shami, Hardik, Ishant, Shardul

There were no surprises in India's squad for the Ireland T20Is before the England tour officially starts. Siddarth Kaul, who has impressed for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has also been named in the squad.

The side for the three T20Is and as many ODIs against England were also announced. While Manish Pandey made the cut for the shortest format, he was given the red light for the 50-over format of the game.

The committee also picked India A team for One-day Tri-series against England Lions and West Indies A and two four-day games against West Indies A and one four-day match against England Lions.

Shreyas Iyer will lead India A side which also consists the likes of India's Under-19 stars Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill for the tri-series.

Meanwhile, Axar Patel, who has not been named in any of India's international squad has also been included in the same squad.

Prithvi Shaw is also a part of the lone four-day Test against England Lions, which is captained by Karun Nair.

Regular skipper Virat Kohli is unavailable for the one-off Test against Afghanistan as he will be busy playing county cricket for Surrey. Indian pacer Ishant Sharma is also set to miss the historic Test due to his county commitments.

The decision to announce the squad in advance is to ascertain who all are available for the Afghanistan Test.

Team India's Test specialist Chesteshwar Pujara, will comeback from UK for the Test against Afghanistan and then return back after playing the match as his county side Yorkshire doesn't have any game during that period.

Also, procuring UK visa is another issue for a few players, which has prompted the board to ask the selectors to quickly announce the squad.

COA Vinod Rai has already said that in order to ensure a good performance in England, at least six to seven Test specialist will be in England in June with the India A side to acclimatise with the conditions.

The lone Afghanistan Test will take place at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here between June 14 and 18, whereas the team will soon travel to Ireland to prepare for the England series.

The two Ireland T20Is will take place on June 27 and 29. The team's England tour will begin on July 3 with the first T20I at Old Trafford.