India’s Nitish Kumar during a practice session ahead of the third One-Day International match against Afghanistan at the Chepauk stadium, Chennai, on June 19, 2026.
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU
The Afghanistan ODI series may have been framed as another step in India’s march towards the 2027 World Cup, but beneath the victories lay a more specific objective: expanding the country’s all-rounder resources beyond the security blanket of Hardik Pandya.India has spent much of the last decade orbiting around Hardik Pandya. He is not merely an all-rounder. He is a solution to several problems at once: a middle-order hitter, a finisher, a seam-bowling option, and a balance-restorer.His absence due to a quadriceps strain handed the team management an opportunity to assess a range of candidates. Nitish Kumar, along with spin-bowling all-rounders Washington Sundar and Harsh Dubey, featured during the series, while Harshit Rana returned to the squad after a lengthy injury layoff.
India's Washington Sundar in action during the second One-Day International cricket match against Afghanistan at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on June 17, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
