IND vs AFG test: ‘Debut’ test between India and Afghanistan in New Chandigarh, real test with red ball after 6 days of IPL

By Samira Vishwas On Jun 6, 2026

IND vs AFG Only Test: The only Test match between India and Afghanistan starting from Saturday is going to be special in many ways. The new PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh will host a Test for the first time. Till a few days ago, this same ground was immersed in the colors of IPL 2026 matches, but now the thrill of Test cricket with white clothes and red ball will be seen here.

India played its last Test against South Africa in November 2025. In such a situation, the team is returning to Test cricket after about 7 months. The interesting thing is that this match is starting just 6 days after the IPL final. 8 out of 15 players of the Indian team were part of the IPL final, so it will be a big challenge for the players to adapt themselves from T20 to Test cricket. This match is not a part of the World Test Championship, but head coach Gautam Gambhir has made it clear that the team is not taking it lightly in any way.

Afghanistan eyes better performance
Afghanistan is going to play its 13th Test after making its debut in Test cricket in 2018. Its first Test was also against India in Bengaluru, where it lost by an innings and 262 runs within two days. This time Afghanistan does not have star spinner Rashid Khan, but captain Hashmatullah Shahidi is confident that the team will perform better. This will also be the first big assignment for Afghanistan’s new head coach Richard Pybus.

Trust in Sai Sudarshan
Gautam Gambhir has made it clear that left-handed batsman B. Sai Sudarshan will bat at number 3. Despite excellent domestic performance, Devdutt Padikkal will have to wait for now. Team India is going to give test cap to a new spin all-rounder.

The debut of one of Harsh Dubey and Manav Suthar is considered certain. Kuldeep Yadav will be India’s main spinner in this match. Due to the retirement of Ravichandran Ashwin, rest of Ravindra Jadeja and absence of Axar Patel, the major responsibility of the spin department will be on Kuldeep.

Keep an eye on these players
Rahmat Shah will be the most important batsman for Afghanistan. He has the most runs, most centuries and most 50+ scores in Test cricket. In the absence of Ibrahim Zadran, the team will expect big innings from him. This will be Rishabh Pant’s 50th test match for India. Only MS Dhoni (90) and Syed Kirmani (88) have played more Tests as wicketkeepers. Captain Shubman Gill needs 157 runs to complete 3000 Test runs.

How will the pitch and weather be?
The black soil pitch of New Chandigarh is considered helpful for the batsmen. However, the temperature can reach up to 40 degrees Celsius during the match, which will test the fitness and patience of the players.

Probable 11 for both teams

India: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 B Sai Sudharasan, 4 Shubman Gill (captain), 5 Rishabh Pant (wicket keeper), 6 Dhruv Jurel, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Harsh Dubey/Manav Suthar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Prasidh Krishna.

Afghanistan: 1 Sediqullah Atal, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), 5 Azmatullah Umarzai, 6 Rahmanullah, 7 Afsar Zazai (wicket keeper), 8 Sharafuddin Ashraf, 9 Nangeyalia Kharote, 10 Qais Ahmed, 11 Ziaur Rehman.