Rahane to lead India in Afghan Test; Dropped from limited overs squads

Bengaluru, May 8 (IANS) Ajinkya Rahane will skipper the Indian team for the historic one-off Test match against Afghanistan, starting June 14 here but dropped from the limited overs squads for the subsequent tours of Ireland and England.

"Ajinkya Rahane will be the team captain for the Test match against Afghanistan that will start from June 14," BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary announced here on Tuesday.

While regular skipper Virat Kohli will be in England playing county cricket, his deputy Rahane has been handed the mantle of the side against Test debutants Afghanistan.

After a brilliant show with the willow in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), Kings XI Punjab duo of Lokesh Rahul and Karun Nair have made a comeback to the Test side.

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma was, however, rested from the squad.

The BCCI also announced same squads for the two-match T20I series against Ireland, and the three T20 Internationals against England, which will see Kohli back in India colours.

Meanwhile, Delhi Daredevils skipper Shreyas Iyer makes his comeback to the ODI side for the three-match ODI series against England, replacing Suresh Raina.

Ambati Rayudu was also rewarded a spot in the ODI squad against England after his impressive run with the bat for the Chennai Super Kings.

Squads:

Test squad for one-off Test vs Afghanistan:
Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Shardul Thakur.

Squad for T20I series vs Ireland & England:
Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Mahendra Singh Dhoni(WK), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddharth Kaul, Umesh Yadav.

Squad for ODI series vs England:
Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ambati Rayudu, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (WK), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddharth Kaul, Umesh Yadav.