India players during the second Test against South Africa in November 2025. (AP) New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) medical team has started reaching out to players in the running for the one-off Test against Afghanistan next month, asking them to gradually increase their workload. As reported by TimesofIndia.com last month, the Indian cricket board was wary of firing its best players. However, with no red flags from the medical team, a full-strength batting line-up, led by captain Shubman Gill, is set to take to the Mullanpur pitch from June 6.“The original plan was to continue to monitor the workload of the players and the medical team has not found any warning signs regarding the batting group at this point. There is still a week to go before the IPL play-off picture becomes clearer, but all the regular batsmen – KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant – are all set to field with player data during the IPLCI Test and are happy with what they have seen so far,” the source explained. development.
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Why Suryakumar Yadav Will Lose India T20I Captaincy: Everything You Need To KnowHowever, the bowling group could see a lot of changes as the think tank would not want to burn their premium fast bowlers under the unforgiving June sun. Jasprit Bumrah is unlikely to feature in a competition that is not part of the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. Players like Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna are expected to get a late call. With the Sri Lanka Test series in mind, the selectors may be tempted to try fresh faces, especially in the bowling department. This could open the door for consistent performers on the fringes.“The bowling group is where changes are expected as workload management is likely to jump in. There’s no point in burning the bowlers for this game and it’s also a great opportunity for the selectors to test some quicks and spinners ahead of the all-important Test series in Sri Lanka,” added the source.While India’s batting core looks settled, a big move needs to be made for the No. 3 position ahead of the tour of Sri Lanka and New Zealand later this year. Sai Sudharsan has been going decently, but his returns have been far from encouraging. While he enjoys the support of the team management, it remains to be seen how long he can keep in form Devdutt Padikkal, who has been performing consistently on the domestic circuit.The southpaw scored 543 runs in the Ranji Trophy and had an even better tally of 725 runs from just nine innings in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Karnataka. The 25-year-old was quickly included by chairman of the men’s selection committee Ajit Agarkar for the home series against England and could be back in the scheme of things when the selectors next meet. Agarkar & Co. they are also likely to push for the longest format specialists as they are not convinced about the spacing in the Playing XI and movement in the batting order.The turnaround time between the IPL and the Afghanistan Test is relatively short and the focus then immediately shifts to the shorter formats – the ODI series against the same opposition followed by tours of Ireland and England.
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