Mohali, Jan 11 (Reporter) Captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and asked Afghanistan to bat first in the first of the three-match T20I series at IS Bindra Stadium here on Thursday. While Sanju Samson, Avesh Khan, Yashashvi Jaiswal and Kuldeep Yadav miss out for India, Noor Ahmad, Sharafuddin Ashraf, and Saleem Saifi miss out for Afghanistan in this match. Jaiswal missed out with a sore right groin, a BCCI release confirmed. The series is the final rehearsal for India ahead of the T20I World Cup hosted by the West Indies and the United States. With Virat Kohli and Rohit taking up the two batting spots, all eyes are on young batsmen who have an opportunity to lay claim to the remaining slots in the absence of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan. The focus also will be on Arshdeep Singh and Mukesh Kumar in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj. Afghanistan, on the other hand, is missing Rashid Khan, but they still have seasoned bowlers like Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Mohammad Nabi. In batting, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz will have stellar roles at the top of the order. With an impressive World Cup campaign behind, Afghanistan hopes to upset a strong Indian squad at home. Teams 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...////...