Samson, Bumrah back in India's T20I squad for Afghanistan series

India have announced their squad for the Afghanistan T20Is, naming a near full-strength unit for the three-match series.

Jasprit Bumrah is a member of the squad, which is led by Shreyas Iyer. His most recent appearance in the format was in the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand in March. Also included is Sanju Samson, who is not in the Zimbabwe T20Is but is one of the two designated keepers along with Ishan Kishan.

In fact, one of the eight changes from the trip to Zimbabwe is Samson. Rinku Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Harsh Dubey, Prabhsimran Singh, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Mayank Yadav and Ashok Sharma were the ones who were left out.

The squad is bolstered by the inclusion of first-choice names in the bowling attack, bearing a largely similar look to that from the England tour. While Shedge, Prince, and Prasidh were all on that England tour, none of them will be playing in the Afghanistan T20Is. Aside from Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakaravarthy have been included, while Harshit Rana has been named as well, subject to fitness clearance.

Apart from Rana and Bumrah, two other players – Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar - have been included with their participation set to be determined by fitness.

New Delhi is the location of all three matches, which are scheduled for September 13, 15, and 17.

India’s squad:Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma (vc), Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar*, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah*, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana*

*Subject to fitness clearance