Undeserving Players Picked In India's T20I Squad Vs Afghanistan

Axar Patel. Image Credits: AFP

India has announced their Afghanistan T20I series squad led by Shreyas Iyer, which has mostly experienced faces in it with almost no fresh additions. 

Alongside some players struggling with injury, there have been names like Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, besides the obvious Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who have been included in the IND vs AFG T20I series.

However, there have been surprising call-ups for players too who were undeserving if looked at their recent circumstances and match readiness. 

India's Squad For Afghanistan T20I series - Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Tilak Varma (Vice Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson (Wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (Wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh.

Let’s take a look at those players who lucked into the India's squad for Afghanistan T20I series despite not very promising performances in the recent past.

1) Axar Patel

Axar Patel’s recent exploits with the bat and the ball have been far from impressive. The all-rounder’s last T20I appearance was on the England tour, where he managed to bag 2 wickets from 4 innings and averaged only 3.80 with the bat, with just 19 runs from 5 innings.

[Axar Patel's recent T20I performances]

Axar Patel’s single-digit score streak in England has been a worrisome trend, and if the team needs him to step up at No. 6 or lower, there is a possibility that he might fail miserably. If the Arun Jaitley Stadium turns out to be flat, there is also a chance that Patel will be beaten outright in Delhi.

Also Read - Krunal Pandya Issues 1st Reaction After Being Ignored For India vs Afghanistan T20Is

2) Ravi Bishnoi

Ravi Bishnoi, the other spin star of the Rajasthan Royals, had a poor outcome in IPL 2026 with only 11 wickets to his name. His inclusion for the Zimbabwe and England tour also didn't yield much result. 

In England, he was quite expensive, giving away runs at an economy rate of 15.00 while remaining wicketless. Against Zimbabwe, though, Bishnoi bagged 3 wickets, picking one wicket in each of the matches he played.

[Bishnoi's recent T20I performances]

At Delhi in IPL, Ravi Bishnoi boasts a poor record, where he has gotten only 1 wicket from the one match he played there at an economy rate of 6.5.

3) Varun Chakaravarthy

Varun Chakaravarthy has recently recovered from a streak of injuries he has been facing since IPL 2026 while playing for Kolkata Knight Riders. His recent performances have also been underwhelming. For KKR, Varun bagged 11 wickets, but from 11 innings, with an economy rate of 8.78.

From what viewers and fans have been discussing, his mystery spinning has been solved, as his hit-the-deck approach with the ball is now being smashed by decent batters. 

[Varun's IPL bowling stats in Delhi]

More importantly, Chakaravarthy's record in Delhi is also a turndown in terms of value. Out of 4 IPL matches he bowled, he gave away runs at 9.13 while picking 4 wickets from 4 matches at an average of 34.25.

Note: Sanju Samson remains a peculiar selection too. The wicketkeeper batter has failed miserably after the T20 World Cup 2026 and has returned with single-digit scores in subsequent series. 

Hence, his inclusion remains a sore thumb besides that of Abhishek Sharma unless the BCCI have decided to give them a free hand to explore their capability with the bat.

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