Srikkanth Questions India’s Full-Strength Afghanistan T20I Squad

Former India opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth has questioned the selectors’ decision to name a full-strength squad for India’s upcoming three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, arguing that the assignment should have created more opportunities for younger players.

The BCCI has selected a 15-member group led by Shreyas Iyer, with Tilak Varma named vice-captain. The Afghanistan series comes immediately before India’s attempt to defend its gold medal at the Asian Games 2026, making the bilateral contests an important part of the team’s preparation.

Srikkanth said the selection reflected caution after India’s recent T20I setbacks. India were beaten 2-0 by Ireland and then lost 4-0 to England, before responding with a 3-0 clean sweep of Zimbabwe in their next T20I series.

Srikkanth says selectors should have tested younger players

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth said the selectors had chosen not to take risks following the defeats in Ireland and England. He described the decision to go with a regular, full-strength T20I group against Afghanistan as a mistake.

“After the series losses in Ireland and England, the selectors have decided not to take a chance and picked a full-strength squad for Afghanistan. They are going all guns blazing, but this is a mistake. It’s against teams like Afghanistan that you should try out youngsters. Instead, you’ve picked a full-strength squad out of fear,” Srikkanth said.

The former India batter also called the selection a “desperation move” in the context of the recent results. He noted that the Afghanistan squad is almost the same as the group selected for the England series.

“It feels like a desperation move after the Ireland and England losses. But this squad is almost the same as the one they picked for England,” Srikkanth said.

Iyer will captain a squad that includes Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, wicketkeepers Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh. Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah and Harshit Rana have also been included, subject to fitness clearance.

Fitness clearance issue raised ahead of Afghanistan series

Srikkanth particularly raised concerns about the inclusion of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Bumrah and Harshit Rana, saying that the four players had not established match fitness. He questioned the basis on which they had been selected subject to fitness clearance.

“These four have not proved match-fitness. So on what basis are they subject to fitness? Just because you prove your fitness at the Bengaluru CoE, are you fit? That’s how Harshit Rana went to England, and then what happened to him there? So match-fitness is important,” the 1983 World Cup winner said.

The series against Afghanistan will now offer India’s selected players a final set of T20I matches before the Asian Games 2026. For Srikkanth, however, the squad announcement has already prompted a wider debate over whether India should have used the series to broaden its options rather than retain a largely familiar group.