Afghanistan Face India’s Red-Ball Switch in New Chandigarh’s Maiden Test

One-off Test: India vs Afghanistan at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, New Chandigarh – the venue’s first-ever Test. India’s 31st Test centre, and only the 3rd in Punjab after Mohali and Jalandhar. Starts Saturday, June 6, 2026, less than a week after IPL 2026 ended.

This time, though, the switch from the white ball to the red ball is a significant challenge since eight of 15 squad members were involved in the IPL final. They must reset their body clocks and adjust their techniques. Even though this match is not part of the World Test Championship cycle, India head coach Gautam Gambhir said they would not take it lightly.

First red-ball assignment of the year for India after the IPL. 8 players from India’s 15-man squad played in the IPL final, so it’s a quick switch from T20 to Test. Shubman Gill captains. KL Rahul is Test vice-captain, replacing Rishabh Pant. Shreyas Iyer is ODI vice-captain. Seniors Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja rested. Ravichandran Ashwin retired. It’s India’s first home Test without both since 2010.New faces called up: Punjab pacer Gurnoor Brar, Vidarbha spin-bowling all-rounder Harsh Dubey – 69 Ranji wickets this season, and Rajasthan left-armer Manav Suthar.

For Afghanistan, this is their 13th Test since their debut in the format in 2018, also against India. In that match in Bengaluru, they had lost inside two days by an innings. This time they do not have their talismanic legspinner Rashid Khan either, but captain Hashmatullah Shahidi is confident of a much better performance. This is also the first assignment for their new head coach Richard Pybus.

In the absence of R Ashwin (retired), Ravindra Jadeja (rested) and Axar Patel (dropped), Kuldeep Yadav will be India's lead spinner. With Washington Sundar and one of Harsh Dubey and Manav Suthar likely to be the other two spinners in the XI, Kuldeep may have to do the heavy lifting. He had a poor IPL - ten wickets in 12 games at an economy of 10.29 - but Delhi Capitals' early exit gave him a few extra days to get "a feel of the red ball".

Not part of the World Test Championship, but head coach Gautam Gambhir said India will treat it like any other Test: “We need to win for the country”. Comes after India’s humbling home series loss to South Africa, where the batting averaged 15.23. This is a reset before tours of Sri Lanka, NZ, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Milestones: Rishabh Pant plays his 50th Test. Gill needs 157 runs for 3000 Test runs. Afghanistan’s Rahmat Shah needs 30 runs for Afghanistan’s first 1000 Test runs.

The match will be played on a black-soil pitch that is expected to be batter-friendly. June is the hottest month in India, so the conditions will be harsh, with afternoon temperatures potentially touching 40°C.

Sairaj Bahutule joins as India’s new spin-bowling coach after working with PBKS in IPL 2026.PCA priced tickets from ₹250 to fill the new stadium for the historic game.

Bottom line: India return to red-ball cricket less than a week post-IPL, hosting Afghanistan in a one-off Test at New Chandigarh’s brand new stadium. Gill leads a younger side with fresh faces, as India look to rebuild after their South Africa series defeat.