India's Test squad to face Afghanistan in a one-off Test in New Chandigarh from June 6 to 10 features three new faces: Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey. The ODI squad includes a new entrant, Prince Yadav.
Suthar and Dubey are left-arm spinners with an excellent body of work in domestic cricket. Fast bowler Gurnoor, however, is a more left-field selection, while Prince has taken the IPL route to the ODI squad. Here's a look at what the four have done to earn their maiden call-ups.
Manav Suthar, 23
Touted as a red-ball specialist from his age-group days, Suthar has been prolific with his classical left-arm-spin right from a breakout 2022-23 Ranji Trophy, where he picked up 39 wickets in six matches. His performances were so compelling that Rajasthan couldn't fit in a second spinner in Ravi Bishnoi, who later moved to Gujarat.
Since then, Suthar has been a regular in India Emerging and India A squads. His giant leap came on his Duleep Trophy debut in 2024, when he claimed 7 for 49 on a flat Anantapur pitch to script a low-scoring win. Among his big scalps were Devdutt Padikkal, Axar Patel and KS Bharat.
Despite featuring in only three Ranji matches in 2025-26, he still picked up 18 wickets (the joint-second-best tally for Rajasthan), including a match-winning 8 for 42 against Chhattisgarh. Overall, Suthar has 129 wickets in 29 first-class games, along with a century and six half-centuries that underline his batting chops.
Harsh Dubey, 23
Dubey's use of the crease, and variations - honed through his stints in Chennai playing club cricket under R Ashwin's mentorship - make him a near like-for-like replacement for Ravindra Jadeja.
He broke the record for the most wickets in a Ranji season ever when he picked up 69 wickets in Vidarbha's run to the 2024-25 title. That took him one past Ashutosh Aman's record of 68 wickets in the 2018-19 season.
Dubey's 2025-26 Ranji tally, in comparison, was more modest: 14 wickets in three matches, but he proved his leadership chops by spearheading Vidarbha's spectacular run to their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy title. Dubey's overall numbers are similar to Suthar's - 133 wickets in 27 first-class games. He also has nine first-class fifties, while averaging 25.65, and been an India A regular over the past two seasons.
Gurnoor Brar, 25
While Suthar and Dubey have earned their Test call-ups through weight of numbers, Gurnoor's selection is a punt on attributes. His raw pace and ability to extract steep bounce even on docile surfaces have impressed selectors enough to overlook a modest first-class return of 52 wickets from 18 matches. Gurnoor is also believed to be an excellent exponent of reverse swing, as per those who have watched him at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence.
Over the past two years, Gurnoor has been a regular at the India nets as a support bowler, having been earmarked by the selectors to be part of BCCI's targeted pool of fast bowlers. Last year, he broke into the India A squads and featured in the most recent series, against South Africa A in Bengaluru. He picked up 12 wickets in three matches, six of those came in Kanpur against Australia A where he overshadowed Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.
"He seems to be an all-format bowler," Ambati Rayudu says
Prince Yadav, 24
While the IPL may have given visual evidence of his abilities, Prince was one of Delhi's standout seamers during the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, picking up 18 wickets in eight matches at an economy of 5.16. It's here that he first caught the eye of Virat Kohli, who was introduced to him by Ishant Sharma.
Videos of him seeking out Kohli during IPL 2026 first went viral. Then came the moment that turned heads: Prince Yadav knocking Kohli over for a duck with a sharp nip-backer.
The Delhi quick has forced his way into India's ODI squad through the IPL, being among the biggest positives in yet another poor season for the Lucknow Super Giants. Prince has impressed with his ability to move the ball both ways at high pace without sacrificing accuracy, picking up 16 wickets in 12 matches. Add to that a rocket arm and excellent fielding, and Prince shapes up as a complete fast-bowling package for the ODI format.