{"id":246658,"date":"2026-06-04T06:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T06:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/virat-kohli-replacement-for-afghanistan-odis-ruturaj-gaikwad-faces-competition-from-rcb-and-mi-stars\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T06:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T06:26:09","slug":"virat-kohli-replacement-for-afghanistan-odis-ruturaj-gaikwad-faces-competition-from-rcb-and-mi-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/virat-kohli-replacement-for-afghanistan-odis-ruturaj-gaikwad-faces-competition-from-rcb-and-mi-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"Virat Kohli replacement for Afghanistan ODIs: Ruturaj Gaikwad faces competition from RCB and MI stars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Captain Shubman Gill and the India national cricket team management are all set to face a major selection headache ahead of the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will reportedly miss the upcoming ODI series, and selectors are exploring the other options.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-app-promo-slot post-app-promo-slot--early text-center my-3 py-1\">\n<div class=\"ca-app-promo-wrap text-center my-1\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.cricketaddictor.io\" class=\"ca-app-promo-link d-inline-block text-decoration-none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"Cricket Addictor \u2014 fastest live scores on Google Play\"><br \/>\n      <br \/>\n    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma set to miss Afghanistan ODIs<\/h2>\n<p>As reported by Times of India, Kohli is expected to miss the three-match ODI series because of a hamstring injury that he sustained during the IPL 2026. The former Indian captain is still recovering, and there is no clarity over when he will be ready to return to the action.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read Also: <a href=\"https:\/\/cricketaddictor.com\/cricket-news\/lucky-enough-to-bat-jordan-cox-recalls-unforgettable-batting-moment-alongside-virat-kohli-at-rcb-460007\/\" data-mce-href=\"https:\/\/cricketaddictor.com\/cricket-news\/lucky-enough-to-bat-jordan-cox-recalls-unforgettable-batting-moment-alongside-virat-kohli-at-rcb-460007\/\" data-mce- target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8220;Lucky enough to bat&#8221;: Jordan Cox recalls unforgettable batting moment alongside Virat Kohli at RCB<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-app-promo-slot post-app-promo-slot--mid text-center my-4 py-2\">\n<div class=\"ca-app-promo-wrap text-center my-1\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.cricketaddictor.io\" class=\"ca-app-promo-link d-inline-block text-decoration-none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"Cricket Addictor \u2014 fastest live scores on Google Play\"><br \/>\n      <img src=\"https:\/\/static.cricketaddictor.com\/assets\/images\/newad4.jpeg\" alt=\"Cricket Addictor \u2014 fastest live scores on Google Play\" class=\"ca-app-promo-img rounded-3 shadow-sm\" width=\"1600\" height=\"533\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: min(420px, 94vw); width: auto; height: auto; object-fit: contain; display: block; margin-inline: auto;\"\/><br \/>\n    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>On the other hand, Rohit&#8217;s availability is also under a cloud as he is still recovering from the hamstring issue. The senior opener was included in the squad only after receiving fitness clearance, but he is yet to complete the required assessment process.<\/p>\n<p>This situation forced the Indian selectors to think about bringing in fresh faces into the ODI setup. It is being said that Yashasvi Jaiswal is one of the strongest options to take that opener\u2019s spot. There are also other names in the mix. Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, and Tilak Varma could all come into consideration if both Kohli and Rohit miss the Afghanistan ODIs.<\/p>\n<p>More to follow&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-app-promo-slot post-app-promo-slot--side clearfix\">\n<div class=\"ca-app-promo-wrap text-center ca-app-promo-article-side float-md-end ms-md-3 mb-3 mx-auto mx-md-0\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.cricketaddictor.io\" class=\"ca-app-promo-link d-inline-block text-decoration-none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"Cricket Addictor \u2014 fastest live scores on Google Play\"><br \/>\n      <img src=\"https:\/\/static.cricketaddictor.com\/assets\/images\/newad3.jpeg\" alt=\"Cricket Addictor \u2014 fastest live scores on Google Play\" class=\"ca-app-promo-img rounded-3 shadow-sm\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1536\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: min(240px, 44vw); width: auto; height: auto; object-fit: contain; display: block; margin-inline: auto;\"\/><br \/>\n    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cricketaddictor.com\/cricket-news\/virat-kohli-replacement-for-afghanistan-odis-ruturaj-gaikwad-faces-competition-from-rcb-and-mi-stars-460011\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Captain Shubman Gill and the India national cricket team management are all set to face a major selection headache ahead of the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will reportedly miss the upcoming ODI series, and selectors are exploring the other options. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma set to miss Afghanistan [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":246659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6803],"tags":[18103,33189,50012,33289,300,442,13635,413,13175],"class_list":{"0":"post-246658","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-devdutt-padikkal","9":"tag-ind-vs-afg","10":"tag-india-national-cricket-team","11":"tag-india-vs-afghanistan","12":"tag-rohit-sharma","13":"tag-ruturaj-gaikwad","14":"tag-tilak-varma","15":"tag-virat-kohli","16":"tag-yashasvi-jaiswal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}