Ahead of the first T20I against Afghanistan in Mohali, India's head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed that the star cricketer Virat Kohli will miss out on the opener due to personal reasons and also revealed Rohit Sharma's opening partner.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) updated the rankings on Tuesday, January 9. With two Test series - India vs South Africa and Australia vs Pakistan - getting concluded simultaneously, Indians and Australian players were the biggest gainers following wins in Cape Town and Sydney respectively.

Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium is set to host the first of the three-match T20I series between India and Afghanistan on January 11. The men in blue will play a T20 match at the venue for the first time since 2022. But how have they performed overall? Let us know...

The three-match T20I series between India and Afghanistan is set to commence on January 11. This is the first ever bilateral series between the two countries. Both teams had last played in India in the only Test which was also the first game for Afghanistan in the format.

Former India World Cup winner Kris Srikkanth talked about why Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were keen to make a comeback into the T20 team. Srikkanth's prediction came true as both returned to India's squad for the three-match T20 series against Afghanistan.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are set to return to the shortest format for the first time since November 2022 in the series against Afghanistan. The three-match T20I series, the first ever bilateral contest between India and Afghanistan, is set to commence on January 11.

The BCCI announced a 16-man India squad for a three-match T20 series against Afghanistan. The squad marked a return for the two senior pros Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who would be playing the shortest format for India after a long gap of 14 months, for the first time since the T20 World Cup 2022.

Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma last played T20I cricket during the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final but are set to make their return to the shortest format of the game in the upcoming series against Afghanistan starting on January 11.

Star Indian cricketers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are set to make their T20I return after a gap of 14 months and are also expected to make the team for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in West Indies and USA starting on January 1.

Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli last played T20I cricket during India's defeat against England in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2022 but have reportedly made themselves available for the upcoming T20 series against Afghanistan.

IND vs AFG: India are yet to announce their squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have reportedly made themselves available for the Afghanistan T20I series. The series will be India's final T20I assignment before the World Cup next year.

Dean Elgar led South Africa in his final Test match at the Newlands in Cape Town. He made his Test debut against Australia in Perth in 2012 and played a total of 86 games in the longest format.

This is the second time India have managed to draw a Test series in South Africa. Earlier, during the 2010-11 tour to the Rainbow Nation, the Indian team had managed to draw a two-match Test series.

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma was quite vocal about how pitches are rated in India as compared to the seaming conditions in the world elsewhere. The Cape Town Test between India and South Africa ended in just two days and was the fastest-ever win by a team as the game was done in 642 balls.

India skipper Rohit Sharma didn't trouble the scorers much and that has led to him going out of top 10 for the first time in last few months. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli was the top-scorer across two innings in the Test match in Centurion and he has benefitted from it big time.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the two senior pros of the Indian cricket team, who haven't played the T20 format since the T20 World Cup last year are still in the fray for the 2024 edition. The selectors gave the young guns a free pass in the T20Is to do their thing and many of them were impressive.

Captain Rohit Sharma spoke in detail about Shubman Gill's batting position and what he personally thinks about No.3 in Test cricket ahead of the second and final match against South Africa. Gill has struggled at No. 3 so far having scored just 120 runs in six innings.

Former cricketer Kris Srikkanth called the Indian team overrated in T20Is and Test matches looking at how they have performed in the two formats in the last year or so. Srikkanth admitted that in the ODIs the Men in Blue have been fantastic but in Tests, especially, they have not been good recently.

Team India lost the first Test of the two-match series against South Africa last week by an innings and 32 runs. Since the loss, Rohit Sharma is being criticised for his poor show not only with the bat but also for his captaincy during the Centurion Test.

Muhammad Waseem has achieved a six-hitting milestone that even the likes of Rohit Sharma and Chris Gayle have been unable to. He led his team to an 11-run win over Afghanistan on the New Year's eve in Sharjah in the ongoing T20I series.