Ahead of WTC games, India search for missing links against gritty Afghanistan

A transitioning Indian cricket team faces Afghanistan in a one-off Test in Mullanpur starting Saturday. Head coach Gautam Gambhir aims to solidifying the No. 3 spot with Sai Sudharsan and audition potential long-term successors for all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja

Mullanpur:  Battling the demons of a horrendous home Test run in the recent past, a formidable but transitioning India will face a plucky Afghanistan in a one-off Test here starting Saturday. The match serves as a crucial opportunity for the hosts to figure out a balanced team combination.

In 2018, Afghanistan famously collapsed, losing 10 wickets in a single session between lunch and tea on the second day of their inaugural Test against India. Their next 10 wickets fell between tea and the end of the day’s play, wrapping up the match inside two days.

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In 2026, Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi will want his team to at least stretch the home side, which is navigating a tough transition phase and will be in experimental mode. However, the Indians will not have forgotten the 0-2 drubbing handed to them by a meticulously prepared South Africa last year, and would do well not to take the opposition lightly despite the gulf in experience.

Sai to get long rope
A stable No. 3 and Ravindra Jadeja’s potential successor in red-ball cricket are the two pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Shubman Gill need to fix during this game, ahead of the important two-match Test series against Sri Lanka in August.

The choice for the top-order slot has been between Sai Sudharsan and the stylish Devdutt Padikkal. Gambhir on Friday made it clear that Sudharsan would be persisted with, insisting that he deserves a fair chance.

Hunt for Jadeja’s successor
While Ravindra Jadeja has been rested for this match, the Indian selectors and team management are actively searching for options to prepare for life beyond the Rajkot all-rounder. The primary driver for this search is Jadeja’s recent bowling form, which has deteriorated considerably, leaving him less incisive than the team management would like.

What remains Jadeja’s unique selling proposition (USP) is his Test batting in overseas conditions, which is still top-notch and provides him with some breathing space.

Nevertheless, Indian cricket has zeroed in on two potential successors: Manav Suthar, a classical slow left-arm orthodox bowler from Rajasthan, and Harsh Dubey, a utility ‘bits-and-pieces’ cricketer from Vidarbha.

Net sessions over the past couple of days indicate that Suthar—with a more classical action and the ability to make the ball hang in the air—looks like the man for the future. He possesses the skill to challenge both the outside and inside edges of the bat. Dubey, on the other hand, appears to be a more defensive bowler who mostly bowls straight lines, but he is a clean hitter—a package that mirrors Jadeja’s utility in foreign conditions. The choice will be a tricky one and a strong indicator of the team management’s tactical philosophy.

Afghans have nothing to lose
The mismatch between the two sides is most evident in the statistics. Since Afghanistan’s first-ever Test against India in 2018 in Bengaluru, the visitors have played just 11 more matches up to June 2026. In contrast, India have played 67 Tests in the same period, with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant alone featuring in 49 of them. Incidentally, Pant had not even made his Test debut when Afghanistan last played India.

From India’s 2018 squad, only KL Rahul remains in the current team, while Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and batter Rahmat Shah are the only survivors from that historic match. Furthermore, Afghanistan’s entire batting line-up has a combined total of nine Test centuries, compared to the 39 logged by this new-look Indian team. While Shahidi’s men held a training camp in Jalalabad, practice alone can rarely prepare a team for the rigors of a Test match.

‘Testing’ weather for Test match
Given the punishing North Indian heat in June, the match seems poorly timed for both sides. It has been sandwiched between two months of the IPL and an upcoming month-long white-ball tour of the United Kingdom.

The scorching afternoon sun made even short distances unbearable during training sessions; after completing fielding drills inside the main arena, Indian players hopped into SUVs one at a time to be driven just half a kilometer to the adjacent ground for net practice.