The bowling duo of Prince Yadav and Gurnoor Brar have received maiden call-up for the Afghanistan ODIs. Yadav has impressed one and all in the ongoing IPL 2026, taking 16 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 24 and an economy rate of 8.53 while playing for Lucknow Super Giants.

Furthermore, Prince took 18 wickets in eight matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, at an average of 19.27, finishing as Delhi’s highest wicket-taker and the fifth highest wicket-taker overall in the season. Punjab pacer Gurnoor scalped 11 wickets in eight matches in the same competition.

Regarding the call-ups to Prince and Gurnoor, Agarkar said: “There were a couple of guys who were injured who were part of the one-day squad before. With Gurnoor, we have seen a lot of promise over the last season and a half. He is a tall guy with a bit of pace. Keeping the South Africa World Cup in mind, we are obviously going to try a few guys who at that point might be useful if they keep developing. Prince Yadav has shown a lot of promise through the domestic season. Obviously, he bowled well in the IPL.

“We have seen that he has grown a lot as a bowler over the last year or so. Again, he has the necessary skills to succeed with the white ball. It is a great opportunity with these three ODIs coming up because with the way the rules are structured and so much is in favour of the batsmen, you are obviously looking at guys with regards to conditions in South Africa who have a chance of succeeding,” he said.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will continue in the ODI mix but the inclusions of Rohit and Hardik Pandya are subject to fitness clearance. Pandya is currently recovering from a back injury whereas Rohit recently recovered from a hamstring injury.

Jasprit Bumrah has been rested from both the Test and ODI squads for the series against Afghanistan. Harsh Dubey has also received his maiden call-up to the ODI squad and has been picked ahead of Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja.

“With regard to one-day cricket, we have 15-16 months left to that World Cup. Somewhere around there, we want to obviously try and assess what our options are, particularly keeping in mind the conditions in South Africa and give a little bit of exposure to some of the newer guys. We know what Ravindra Jadeja or Axar Patel can do. This is the time we try and give some opportunity to some of the other guys,” explained Ajit Agarkar, chairman of selectors.

“You want guys who can contribute with the bat down the order but also have the necessary skill to be a front-line spin or a front-line seam bowler. We think he certainly fits the bill. We are hopeful that when he gets that opportunity, he shows what he can do. We have seen enough over the last couple of years, maybe a little bit more. He seems to have the necessary skill to succeed at this level,” Agarkar said about Dubey.

ODI squad: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey