Captain Rohit Sharma is back in the shortest format of international cricket as he came out to lead Team India in the first T20I against Afghanistan in Mohali on Thursday.
Rohit last played 20-over cricket for India in the T20 World Cup 2022 where they crashed out of the semi-finals.
The 36-year-old drew loud cheers from the fans present at the PCA IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali when he came out for the toss along with Afghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran.
Rohit blanks out at the toss again
The Hitman won the toss and elected to bowl first in chilly conditions under lights.
But Rohit being Rohit, forgot the team combination when Murali Kartik asked him about the players who have been left out by the Indian management.
"I wasn't in the team for the entire last year, but I've been talking to Rahul bhai about what we are doing and understand what we need to do as a group. Winning is the most important thing.
"Sanju (Samson), Avesh (Khan), (Yashasvi) Jaiswal (who didn't pull up well)... and Kuldeep are not playing," Rohit told Kartik, who was conducting the toss with the two captains and the match referee.
He took a long pause to recall who was the third player to miss out from the playing XI before remembering Kuldeep Yadav's name.
This isn't the first time Rohit has blanked out at the toss as last year he forgot what he was going to do after winning the toss against New Zealand during an ODI in Raipur.
Depleted sides face off in Mohali
India will also be missing the services of star batter Virat Kohli in the first T20I due to personal reasons. Afghanistan meanwhile, won't have bowling lynchpin Rashid Khan in their playing XI as he is yet to recover from his lower-back surgery.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(w), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
