New Delhi: Jasprit Bumrah, who leads the Indian team’s fast bowling attack, will either play a one-off Test match or be a part of the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan next month. The National Selection Committee is keeping a special eye on Bumrah’s workload for declaring the team on May 19. The only Test match to be played in New Chandigarh from June 6 to 10 is not a part of the World Test Championship. After this, the ODI series matches will be held on June 14 (Dharamshala), June 17 (Lucknow) and June 20 (Chennai). This bilateral ODI series is also in the news because Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are currently seen playing only in this format at the international level.

Meanwhile, the name of Delhi’s young fast bowler Prince Yadav can become a topic of serious discussion in the selection meeting. In the last season of Vijay Hazare Trophy, he proved his talent by taking 17 wickets in eight matches. He has also impressed in IPL 2026 by taking 16 wickets in 12 matches. The biggest highlight of his performance was the dismissal of Virat Kohli on a brilliant seam ball.

With Harshit Rana unlikely to be fit any time soon, this series is being considered suitable to test Prince. The selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar would like to avoid any major experiments in the Test team. Keeping in mind the upcoming foreign tours of Sri Lanka and New Zealand, only those players who have got consistent opportunities in the last one year can be trusted. The circumstances in these two countries will be completely different from each other. Bumrah has played consistent cricket in the IPL, but it is unlikely that he will be out of both the Test and ODI series against Afghanistan, scheduled to last around two weeks. The biggest question remains whether Bumrah, who has always given special importance to wearing the jersey of the Indian Test team, will be fielded in the one-off Test against Afghanistan or not.

According to sources, if Bumrah plays the Test match, he will be rested from the ODI series. At the same time, if he plays ODI matches, he may get a break from Tests. There are definitely talks of some changes in the team composition, but there is a possibility that Devdutt Padikkal, who was a part of the team on the South Africa tour last year, may get a chance in place of Sai Sudarshan at number three in the batting order. Washington Sundar and Dhruv Jurel are also being considered as options for this position. Sundar has batted at number three for Tamil Nadu, while Jurel can play the role of a specialist batsman. If Bumrah is not available for the Test match, the responsibility of the new ball is likely to rest on the shoulders of Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna. Both Akash Deep and Harshit Rana are injured, so Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Auqib Nabi may get a chance as the third fast bowler. He took 60 wickets in the last season of Ranji Trophy.

However, his competition will be from fast bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. If Bumrah joins the team, then Auqib Nabi may have to wait, because in Indian conditions usually not more than three specialist fast bowlers get a place in the playing eleven and the role of spinners is important here. Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar are considered almost certain in the spin department. Questions may definitely be raised about Axar Patel’s place in comparison to the previous team selected against South Africa. Harsh Dubey has been selected for the Sri Lanka A tri-series, but at present he is not considered to be in the running for the Test team. On the other hand, Manav Suthar can give a tough challenge to Akshar Patel. Depending on experience, the bet may go in favor of Akshar.