MUMBAI: Rohit Sharma returns as India's captain in Twenty20 cricket. Rohit was declared as the captain when the team for the three-match series against Afghanistan starting on the 11th of this month was announced. Superstar Virat Kohli is also returning to the T20 team. Malayali star Sanju Samson has also been included in the team.

Both Rohit and Virat have not played for India in the T20 format since they were knocked out in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-finals by England. Hardik was the captain in India's later matches. Suryakumar Yadav led the team in the series against Australia and South Africa after Pandya was ruled out due to an injury in the ODI World Cup.

With the return of Rohit Sharma as the captain, Hardik Pandya's hopes of leading the Indian team's T20 World Cup squad have suffered a severe blow. After his return to the IPL team Mumbai Indians, Pandya replacing Rohit as the captain had led to huge controversies.

Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan, who is in great form, has been dropped from the T20 team. Ishan had pulled out of the South Africa tour citing personal reasons. Apart from Malayali player Sanju, Maharashtra player Jitesh Sharma has also been included as wicketkeeper.

India squad for Afghanistan series: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Josh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.