India Schedule, KKR Captain And Shaheen Afridi Pulls Out- March 12 Cricket Highlights

Team India and KKR [Source: AFP]

Team India will likely have a hectic international cricket schedule in the year 2026, with plans underway to add more fixtures and series. The KKR franchise has reportedly extended Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy gig for the upcoming IPL 2026 season. In other news, Shaheen Afridi pulled himself out of The Hundred 2026 auction.

Capping an eventful day in the world of cricket, here we take a look at five of the biggest cricketing news that emerged out of Thursday, March 12.

India set for packed calendar in 2026, Sri Lanka tour possible

The Indian cricket team is set to go through a busy cricket calendar this year. Apart from scheduled commitments in England, UAE, Bangladesh, Japan as well as several home fixtures; the ‘Men in Blue’ might also travel for additional matches or series in Ireland, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, as reported by CricBuzz.

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While Team India was scheduled to tour England later this year for a white-ball series, the team might also visit Ireland for a handful of matches. India’s Test tour of Sri Lanka will likely feature a separate T20I series in a bid to raise funds for Sri Lanka’s fund relief.

Ajinkya Rahane to lead KKR in IPL 2026: Report

Ajinkya Rahane is set to remain as captain of the KKR franchise for the upcoming IPL 2026 season, as per a latest report from Telegraph India. While the KKR management recently revamped its squad and released the likes of Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Moeen Ali and Rahmanullah Gurbaz among others; the franchise has seemingly decided to give Rahane another crack at captaincy.

Earlier reports indicated that the franchise might hand over captaincy to India spinner Varun Chakaravarthy following KKR’s underwhelming performance in the IPL 2025 last year.

Shaheen Afridi pulls out of The Hundred 2026 auction

Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has pulled out of The Hundred 2026 Men’s auction. The speedster withdrew his name mere hours prior to the bidding event, even though he had registered his name earlier this year. Shaheen Afridi was one of the biggest names from his country to register at the Hundred auction, and was reportedly in high demand among several franchises.

As of now, the fast bowler is in Bangladesh as the captain of the Pakistan team to play a short white-ball series against the hosts.

Josh Hazlewood still in doubt for IPL 2026 participation for RCB

Josh Hazlewood is still under physio care, thus putting his IPL 2026 participation for the RCB franchise in doubt, as reported by a Hindustan Times reporter. The legendary Australian fast bowler suffered an injury prior to the 2025-26 Ashes series late last year, and is yet to attain full recovery. Hazlewood’s injury even ruled out of the entire Ashes series at home, as well as from the entire 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in February and March.

The 35-year-old, who played his last competitive match back in November 2025, was retained by the RCB franchise for the upcoming 19th edition of the tournament.

New Zealand sends security team to Bangladesh before tour

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has sent a security team to Bangladesh to assess the current situation in the South Asian country. The team reached Dhaka earlier this week in order to review the security arrangements for the tour.

It is worth noting that the New Zealand cricket team is scheduled to tour Bangladesh in April next month to play a series of three ODIs and three T20I matches.

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