Why is Yashasvi Jaiswal not playing today’s IND vs AFG T20I? 

Team India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal will not take part in the first T20I of the three-match home series against Afghanistan at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Thursday, January 11.

Jaiswal was unavailable for selection for the opening encounter. The southpaw was ruled out of the contest due to a sore right groin. Providing fans with an update on the youngster's absence, the BCCI wrote on the microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter):

"UPDATE: Mr Yashasvi Jaiswal was unavailable for selection for the first T20I due to a sore right groin."

Yashasvi Jaiswal was last seen in action during India's recently concluded two-match Test series against South Africa away from home. However, he failed to make a significant impact, mustering just 50 runs across four innings at an average of 12.50.

Jaiswal did play an impressive knock in the final fixture of the three-match T20I series against the Proteas. The dynamic batter scored 60 runs off 41 deliveries with the help of three sixes and six fours.

---

In Yashasvi Jaiswal's absence, Shubman Gill will open with Rohit Sharma in the 1st T20I vs Afghanistan

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field first in the T20I series opener against Afghanistan. Speaking at the toss, Sharma said:

"We will bowl first. No particular reason; the pitch is good, and it doesn't change a lot here. A lot to gain from the 3 games, we haven't had too much T20 cricket leading to the World Cup; there's IPL, but this is an international game and we'll try to achieve a few things.

"I had a chat with Rahul bhai (Dravid) regarding the combination going forward and what we need to do as a group. That's what we'll try to do, but winning is the most important thing."

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will open the innings in Yashasvi Jaiswal's absence. India are also without senior batter Virat Kohli, who opted out of the first T20I citing personal reasons.

Here are the two playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(w), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman