Bumrah returns from a knee injury for India's T20Is against Afghanistan

India's fast bowler has not played a T20 international since the World Cup final in March, and comes back for three matches in Delhi subject to fitness

Jasprit Bumrah has been named in India's squad for the three-match T20 international series against Afghanistan, his first selection in the format since the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand in March.

His inclusion is subject to fitness clearance. Bumrah has been out since injuring a knee during India's one-day series in England, an injury that also kept him out of the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka.

The series is played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, with Afghanistan the designated home side.

A managed return rather than a comeback

Bumrah's workload has been handled deliberately for two years, and this selection follows the pattern: three T20 internationals at home, in a short window, before a busier stretch.

He is one of four players named subject to fitness, alongside Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana, which suggests a squad picked before the medical picture was settled rather than around it.

Three matches over five days is a controlled way to find out whether the knee holds.

The World Cup final in March is a long time to be out of a format, and Bumrah has missed a full Test tour in between. India have not asked him to bowl competitively in months.

The same fifteen as the Asian Games

The squad is identical to the group India named for the Asian Games in Japan, which begin later this month, and is led by Shreyas Iyer with Tilak Varma as his deputy.

It reads: Shreyas Iyer, Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana.

Naming one squad for both assignments is efficient, but it also means the Afghanistan series doubles as Asian Games preparation for a group that will otherwise arrive in Japan cold.

It also puts Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh in the same attack for the first time since the injury, with Varun Chakaravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi providing the spin that a Delhi surface in September usually rewards.

Why Afghanistan are the home team

Afghanistan have played their designated home fixtures in India for several years, and the Arun Jaitley Stadium is one of the grounds they have used.

The arrangement means the visiting side on paper is the one playing in front of its own crowd, which is a quirk of the fixture rather than a competitive factor.

Afghanistan's T20 side remains their strongest, built on a spin attack that has troubled better-resourced teams than this one in the format.

For Afghanistan the series is a rare full-strength fixture against a top side outside a global tournament, and one played somewhere their supporters can reach in numbers.

What India get out of it

The immediate answer is Bumrah's fitness, which matters far beyond three matches in September.

Beyond that it is a look at Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in national colours and a competitive run-out for a squad that has been picked to win a medal rather than to experiment.

India play Afghanistan on 13, 15 and 17 September in Delhi, and travel to Japan the following week.

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