Harsh Dubey, Gurnoor Brar make international debuts for India: Details
What's the story
Team India has decided to bowl first in the rain-curtailed 1st ODI against Afghanistan. The match has been shortened to 25 overs per side due to a delay start in Dharamshala. Before the game, there were speculations that Team India would give some players their maiden caps. The two players selected for this honor were Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar. Here are further details.
Debut caps
Debut for Dubey and Brar
KL Rahul presented Dubey with his first India cap, while Gill, the captain of Team India and Gujarat Titans, gave Brar his debut cap. With Dubey's inclusion in the playing XI, Kuldeep Yadav will not be playing in this match. Likewise, Prince Yadav won't be making his India debut today as Brar has been picked ahead of him.
Team lineup
India's playing XI and bench for the 1st ODI
India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna The bench comprises Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav, and Prince Yadav. It must be noted that both Dubey and Brar have not represented India in any other format.
Match conditions
Rain gods play spoilsport in Dharamshala
After initial weather concerns, conditions improved considerably with the skies clearing just in time for the match. The revised playing conditions allow each team to use a maximum of five bowlers, with each bowler allowed to bowl up to five overs. The batting powerplay will be in effect for the first five overs of each innings.
Dubey
Dubey is a bowling all-rounder
Dubey, who is a left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder, is being seen as Ravindra Jadeja's successor in the ODI team. He owns the record for the most wickets in a Ranji Trophy season ever, having picked up 69 wickets in Vidarbha's run to the 2024-25 title. He also claimed eight wickets across as many games for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL). His 30 List A outings before debut have resulted in 31 wickets at an economy of 4.71. With the bat, he has tallied 296 runs at 26.90 (50s: 2).
Brar
Gurnoor adds variety to the attack
Meanwhile, Gurnoor has impressed the selectors with his raw pace and ability to extract steep bounce even on docile surfaces. He shared the Gujarat Titans dressing room alongside Gill in IPL 2026 but did not get a game. The 26-year-old, who stands at six-five, took just 12 wickets across nine List A games before receiving his maiden Team India cap (ER: 6.47).
Twitter Post
Maiden India caps for the duo!
𝗗𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 🧢🇮🇳
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 13, 2026
Congratulations to Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar on receiving their ODI debut caps from KL Rahul and Shubman Gill respectively 👏
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