{"id":179305,"date":"2026-06-11T06:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T12:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=179305"},"modified":"2026-06-11T06:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T12:12:10","slug":"ind-vs-afg-who-will-be-indias-next-spin-bowling-all-rounder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=179305","title":{"rendered":"IND vs AFG: Who will be India\u2019s next spin-bowling all-rounder?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

World Cup preparations are a long-drawn process, chiselled and fine-tuned in bilateral contests. It is in these games that the team management can try out players in the heat of battle and figure out the combination.<\/p>\n

Though there are nearly 15 months to go until the 2027 One-Day International World Cup (hosted by South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe), India has already begun its preparations. The Men in Blue played three ODIs earlier in January against New Zealand. They have 17 more before the end of the year, starting with a three-match duel against Afghanistan, which begins here at the HPCA Stadium on Saturday.<\/p>\n

This series will be crucial in auditioning candidates for spots in the middle-and-lower-order. One slot which has seen some churn in the last three ODI series has been the spin-bowling all-rounder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After using both Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja in the XI during the victorious 2025 Champions Trophy campaign, India has alternated between the two in the subsequent series. Considering the conditions in South Africa won\u2019t be conducive to having two part-time tweakers, it made sense.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Why India is struggling to produce specialist spinners?<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

While Axar got a go in Australia, Jadeja was brought back for the home assignments against South Africa and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

However, for the series against the Afghans, neither southpaw finds a place in the squad, with the selectors handing Vidarbha\u2019s Harsh Dubey a call-up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In this mix is also Washington Sundar, who has played in six of the last nine ODIs and is looking to establish his foothold in the line-up.<\/p>\n

These calls now raise questions about Jadeja\u2019s long-term prospects. The Saurashtra player is one of the fittest cricketers, but will be almost 39 when the quadrennial event begins, and hasn\u2019t had the greatest of runs with the bat in recent outings.<\/p>\n

At a time when neither Kohli nor Rohit is guaranteed to feature in the World Cup, Jadeja\u2019s career in this format too is at a crossroads. If age and form are factors for Jadeja, Axar\u2019s case is more curious. The Gujarat all-rounder made vital contributions in the Champions Trophy and had a decent showing with the bat in Australia, but hasn\u2019t been picked since then.<\/p>\n

This spot is vital, considering all four contenders provide a much-needed left-handed variety to an otherwise right-hand-heavy batting line-up. For now, Washington and Harsh will be acutely aware that they have a golden chance to make a big impact.<\/p>\n

Published on Jun 11, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World Cup preparations are a long-drawn process, chiselled and fine-tuned in bilateral contests. It is in these games<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":179306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-179305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/TH10-EPAPER-KAUGGEF5471R.4.jpg.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":185151,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=185151","url_meta":{"origin":179305,"position":0},"title":"IND-W vs BAN-W, Women\u2019s T20 World Cup 2026: I would say I\u2019m an all-rounder, says Shafali Verma","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"June 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Shafali Verma took the new ball for India against South Africa. She enjoyed every minute of it, giving away just three runs as part of a four-over spell that yielded figures of one for 22. 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