In less than a week after the end of the Indian Premier League 2026, India will host Afghanistan for a one-off Test and three ODI matches. Afghanistan’s tour of India will begin with a red-ball game, starting on June 6 in Mullanpur. After this, both sides will play the one-dayers on June 14 (Dharamsala), June 17 (Lucknow) and June 20 (Chennai). As per a PTI report, Bumrah could play the five-day game, provided he gets approval from the BCCI’s medical team. However, it added that the pacer will miss the ODI series anyhow as part of workload management.

Bumrah is currently playing in IPL 2026 for Mumbai Indians. It has been an uncharacteristic performance from the ace pacer, as he has managed to pick only three wickets in 12 games for MI. His economy rate is 8.53, the highest in more than a decade in the tournament.

“If the medical team appoves Bumrah’s workload is under permissible limits, he might play the Test match against Afghanistan,” the news agency quoted a BCCI source.

“But there is no chance of him playing the ODI series. If there is slightest issue with his workload, he will be rested for the full series,” it added.

The report further said that Prince Yadav is among the fast-bowling contenders for the Afghanistan series, and this is the reason he hasn’t been picked for the tri-nation List A series in Sri Lanka.

Prince, who took 18 wickets from eight games in the last Vijay Hazare Trophy season, has been in terrific form in the IPL. In the ongoing T20 tournament, he has scalped 16 wickets from 12 games. His wickets include the dismissal of Virat Kohli with a lovely seaming delivery, which has underlined the fact that there couldn’t be a better series to try out Prince, since Harshit Rana is unlikely to get fit anytime soon.

Shubman Gill is expected to lead the Indian side in the matches against Afghanistan. KL Rahul remains the first-choice wicketkeeper in ODIs, while Ishan Kishan is expected to be the second option. Rishabh Pant could make way for the in-form Kishan, who was one of the stars of India’s T20 World Cup 2026-winning campaign and has also been in superb form in the ongoing IPL 2026 season.

(With PTI inputs)

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