The national selection committee will be monitoring Jasprit Bumrah’s workload when choosing the squads for the Afghanistan series on May 19, thus the pace spearhead will either play in the one-off Test or the three-match ODI series next month.
The three ODIs will take place on June 14 (Dharamsala), 17 (Lucknow), and 20 (Chennai), respectively, while the one-off Test, which is not a part of the World Test Championship cycle, will be played at New Chandigarh from June 6–10.
Due to the fact that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma only play in bilateral ODIs, they have gained traction.
However, given his outstanding performance in the most recent national one-day tournament, Delhi speedster Prince Yadav’s name would undoubtedly be considered by the selection committee. In eight Vijay Hazare Trophy games, Prince claimed 17 wickets.
Aside from that, Prince’s performance in the current IPL 2026 series—16 wickets from 12 games, including the dismissal of Virat Kohli with a beautiful seaming delivery—has highlighted the fact that there isn’t a better series to test him out because Harshit Rana is unlikely to recover anytime soon.
It is almost certain that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee will not try the red ball format squad. With a focus on the away series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, where different conditions may be on offer, the squad is anticipated to have the tried-and-true faces from last year.
Despite his busy IPL schedule, Bumrah is unlikely to miss the full two-week series that begins on June 6. Whether Bumrah will be needed for a single Test match against Afghanistan is irrelevant to someone who takes pride in wearing the India Whites.
According to sources, he would not participate in the three-match ODI series if he played in the Test match. He would be rested for the Test match if he participated in the ODI series.
Devdutt Padikkal, who was also a member of the team that was crushed by South Africa last year, is likely to take Sai Sudharsan’s place at No. 3 in the batting lineup, despite the fact that there has been much discussion about squad changes. Dhruv Jurel, a specialist batter, and Washington Sundar, who has batted at No. 3 for Tamil Nadu, will be the other choices for that position.
Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna will probably lead the new ball attack if Bumrah is out. Auqib Nabi, a seamer from Jammu and Kashmir who claimed 60 wickets during the previous Ranji Trophy season, may be the backup pacer since both Akash Deep and Harshit are injured. However, Nitish Kumar Reddy, an all-rounder who bowls at a fast tempo, is his opponent.
Nabi may have to wait for his turn if Bumrah plays since in an Indian Test match where spinners make all the decisions, no more than three frontline fast bowlers would be selected.
Washington, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja are the obvious picks when it comes to spinners. Axar Patel’s spot in the longest format may be under scrutiny from the team selected to play South Africa.
Even though Harsh Dubey has been selected for the Sri Lanka A tri-nation series, he won’t be taken into consideration. However, Manav Suthar could pose a serious threat to Axar, though experience might ultimately win out.
In the Test format, Rishabh Pant and Jurel are the two wicketkeepers that are always selected.
