Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel on Friday indicated that the team management is likely to try multiple players at No. 3 in the upcoming ODI series against Afghanistan, with first-choice batter Virat Kohli Unavailable for the three-match rubber due to an injury. Kohli, who suffered a hamstring injury during the IPL 2026 final, was replaced in the squad by Yashasvi Jaiswal. Speaking on the eve of the series-opener in Dharamsala, Morkel suggested that India are likely to rotate between Jaiswal, KL Rahul,and Ishan Kishan during the series against Afghanistan.
“In terms of that number three slot, that’s something that in this series we’ll play around with. Even if it’s Ishan or KL or Yashasvi, it’s a nice opportunity now. We’ve got a couple of one-day games coming up and we’ll give guys opportunity in different slots.
“Just to give ourselves a better idea in terms of how we can go and structure the team and have different options,” said the former South Africa pacer.
Meanwhile, Prince Yadav or Gurnoor Brar could make their India debut on Saturday. India trained in Chandigarh before traveling to Dharamsala.
As a fellow pacer, Morkel is impressed with both Prince and Gurnoor, who has been a net bowler for India for many years.
“My first impressions, it is sort of, almost like they’ve been part of the squad for five years. I saw no nervousness in their face. Although, I can imagine coming into the squad, they would be pretty nervous. But I think the way they’ve gone about their training, the energy they’ve trained with, was very, very nice and good to see.
“In terms of their skills, I can also see that they’ve done a lot of work on that. They’re on the money, accurate. And that makes my life a little bit easier. Obviously, from here on, we’ll develop their game and sort of have conversations of how we can play that middle phase and work our plays in the death,” Morkel said.
“How we can do that better. But definitely, on first impressions, very happy with what we saw as a group,” he added Morkel expressed hope that India chief coach Gautam Gambhir will try the duo out in the Afghanistan series.
“I’m pretty sure Gautam will give those guys an opportunity and see how they go in the Indian shirt. It’s different playing for international cricket with an Indian badge. We’re excited to have them.” Rohit Sharma too was part of the training session, having regained full fitness following his hamstring injury.
(With PTI Inputs)
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