Rahane to lead India against Afghanistan in Kohli’s absence

MUMBAI: Ajinkya Rahane will lead India against Afghanistan, who play their maiden Test in Bangalore in June, in the absence of regular captain Virat Kohli, the country’s cricket board (BCCI) said on Tuesday.

Kohli will represent Surrey in June after signing a one-month contract with the English county side to prepare for the Test series against England later this year.He will return to lead India in the limited-overs series in Ireland in June before they head to England for three T20 internationals, three One-day Internationals (ODIs) and a five-Test series starting in August.

Afghanistan will play their inaugural Test match from June 14 in Bangalore’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium.The South Asian country and Ireland joined the ranks of full member nations of the International Cricket Council (ICC) last year, taking the total number of Test-playing countries to 12.

India also decided to manage the workloads of other Test regulars, opting to rest batsman Rohit Sharma and pace duo Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah for the Afghanistan Test.