BCCI to pick full-strength squad for one-off Afghanistan Test; focus on Bumrah, Siraj – Report

The BCCI selectors are in no mood to experiment with the squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Chandigarh shortly after IPL 2026 concludes. Even though this fixture doesn’t fall in the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, the Indian Cricket Board wants a full-strength side to take the field. Regardless of the opposition’s stature in Test cricket, the BCCI is not keen on picking uncapped players, with the focus on the pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. The selectors will sit with the BCCI to prepare the roadmap for the next few months over the weekend or next week.

A Times of India (TOI) report claims that the BCCI selectors are in a fix to name a first-team squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan. While selectors are keen on including their premier pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, his history of injuries makes them reluctant to rush the decision. The report adds that all parties concerned will wait to see which teams make the IPL playoffs before zeroing in on the squad for the Afghanistan Test.

As of now, the Indian Test team is scheduled to play nine Tests in this WTC cycle, and must win most of them to give themselves any chance of making the final at Lord’s in June next year. They currently sit fifth on the WTC standings, with four wins and as many losses in nine contested matches. Australia and New Zealand are the top two teams on the WTC standings.

Dilemma over selecting pacers

While Bumrah remains an automatic choice, given his team is among the two IPL franchises that are eliminated from the playoff race this season, Siraj’s selection call depends on how far his IPL team advances in IPL 2026. Although Gujarat Titans’ Siraj and Prasidh Krishna are among the first choices, it remains to be seen if the selectors pick them right after their IPL 2026 campaigns.

Among the backups, Akash Deep continues to recover from his lower-back injury and is unlikely to be declared fit anytime soon. KKR’s Harshit Rana is also out of contention until mid-June. While Anshul Kamboj and Gurnoor Brar are among the regulars on India-A tours, including Jammu & Kashmir quick and Ranji Trophy winner, Auqib Nabi, is also on the cards. He, however, is not part of the India-A programme.

“The selectors don’t believe in compromising the Test squad just because India are playing Afghanistan. They want the best lineup to play. They don’t want to distribute Test caps so easily. Siraj’s workload threshold is very high. Prasidh hasn’t played an IPL match since April 24. Nitish Kumar Reddy is also seen as someone who can contribute to the seam-bowling department.

“The BCCI monitors all data points when it comes to workload management. A call on Bumrah will be taken after a detailed discussion. The last time India played Afghanistan in a Test match, the frontline XI was played,” a BCCI source close to the information, said, as also quoted by TOI.