A massive update on Washington Sundar's availability has come to light | PC- AFP
Team India, under Shreyas Iyer, has picked a strong squad to face Afghanistan in the three-match series, but with fitness concerns over Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, and Nitish Reddy.
All three matches will be played at New Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium between September 13 and 17, with the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) hosting the series. The hosts have already landed in the capital city and begun their preliminary practice sessions.
Meanwhile, the Indian team has yet to group up, with three of the players currently featuring in the Duleep Trophy 2026 final in Chennai.
Washington Sundar declared fit by BCCI for IND vs AFG T20Is
Nearly a week before the start of the IND vs AFG T20Is, India have received a positive news regarding one of their star players' fitness.
All-rounder Washington Sundar has reportedly been declared fit by the BCCI, according to India Today.
“All-rounder Washington Sundar is fit and available for India's three-match T20I series against Afghanistan,” the report stated.
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Sundar's absence led the team management to pick Saransh Jain for the two Test matches in Sri Lanka. Notably, the all-rounder sustained a hamstring injury during the second ODI against ODI, which didn't allow him to bowl in the fixture. However, he has fully recovered from his injury.
Washington Sundar enoys team management's backing across formats
Thanks to all-round skill sets, Washington Sundar is considered across all formats by the current team management. He has consistently played the T20I format since the 2024 cycle, and he was a crucial part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2026.
Moreover, Sundar is highly backed over the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in the ODI format. Meanwhile, after Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement, the off-spinning all-rounder has become an automatic choice in the Test format.
That said, the all-rounder played just 114 matches since his debut in 2017, due to a series of injuries throughout his decade-long career. Overall, he has taken 122 wickets and scored 1661 runs in international cricket.
What's the update on Jasprit Bumrah, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana's fitness?
Although Washington Sundar is declared fit, Jasprit Bumrah, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana have yet to get clearance from the BCCI medical team.
Reddy and Rana are expected to be declared fit by the Indian board by Wednesday (September 9). However, there is no update on the ace pacer’s fitness.
Having said that, it was earlier reported that the team management is happy about Bumrah and Reddy's fitness, but the same wasn’t the case for Rana and Sundar. But with the all-rounder getting clearance, Harshit Rana is the only one left.
Indian T20I squad for Afghanistan T20Is: Shreyas Iyer [C], Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson [WK], Ishan Kishan [WK], Tilak Varma [VC], Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar*, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah*, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana*.
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