All posts tagged: india vs afghanistan test

‘Everyone is judged on performance’

‘Everyone is judged on performance’

Published by Webster

3 min readUpdated: Jun 5, 2026 02:15 PM IST India head coach Gautam Gambhir said on Friday that Rishabh Pant hasn’t been asked to abandon the aggressive manner in which he bats in Test cricket before stating that it is “important to play according to the situation”. Gambhir’s comments come on the eve of India’s one-off Test against Afghanistan, and among the headlines to emerge out of the squad announcement for the match was Pant losing vice-captaincy. “Responsibility is only to play for India. Everything else – captaincy, vice-captaincy and so on – are by-products,” Gambhir told reporters in New Chandigarh on Friday. “When you play for India, you don’t think of these things from the first day. You think about doing well for India. So going from one post to the other are all just by-products. Ultimately, everyone is judged on performance. Whether it be me or anyone in the support staff or any player. Ultimately, that is what international cricket is all about.” Gambhir said that Pant won’t be told to change the …

Why does Irfan Pathan think Kuldeep Yadav might miss out IND vs AFG Test

Why does Irfan Pathan think Kuldeep Yadav might miss out IND vs AFG Test

Published by Webster

2 min readUpdated: Jun 3, 2026 02:12 PM IST India will take on Afghanistan in a one-off Test match in Mullanpur starting from Saturday. The squad includes four spinners: Washington Sundar, Harsh Dubey, Kuldeep Yadav and Manav Suthar. In the recent series, India preferred spin-bowling all-rounders over specialist spinners in home conditions. Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan said India will look to continue playing with a similar strategy, which could mean wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav misses out. “Absolutely copy-paste, except on one point, because the Indian team likes to bat till No. 8. That’s how they play. So maybe in place of Kuldeep Yadav, at No. 6, No. 7, and No. 8 – Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar,” Pathan said on the Follow the Blues show. “Harsh Dubey coming at No. 9 and then Gurnoor Brar and one of the fast bowlers, either Siraj or Prasidh Krishna, whichever way they want to go,” Pathan observed. “That focus will be there. When you play against Sri Lanka and other big teams, your experienced …

Pant loses Test vice-captaincy, maiden call-up for Prince Yadav

Pant loses Test vice-captaincy, maiden call-up for Prince Yadav

Published by Webster

2 min readUpdated: May 19, 2026 05:05 PM IST KL Rahul has replaced Rishabh Pant as India’s Test vice-captain as the squad was announced for the side’s one-off Test and three-match ODI series against Afghanistan on Wednesday. Pant has also been dropped from the squad for India’s subsequent three-match ODI series against Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan has earned a recall to the ODI squad as well. Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya have also been included in the Indian ODI squad, although their availability is subject to their fitness being cleared by the BCCI CoE. Maiden Test call-ups have been handed to left-arm spinners Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey. Fast bowler Gurnoor Brar has received maiden call-ups to the Test and ODI squads both while fellow pacer Prince Yadav and has received a maiden call-up to the ODI squad alone. A notable ommission from the Test squad is Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Auqib Nabi. Jasprit Bumrah has also been rested for the duration of the series, as is the case with veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. …