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Who is Yash Thakur? Vidarbha pacer replaces Arshdeep Singh in India vs Afghanistan 3rd T20I
Yash Thakur had already been added to the Indian squad last week after Harshit Rana was ruled out.
India already lead the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan 2-0. For the third and final match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday, they made one change in the line-up: Vidarbha seamer Yash Thakur replaced Arshdeep Singh. Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran won the toss and elected to bowl, giving India their first bat-first assignment of the series and handing Thakur his first home appearance.
Notably, Yash Thakur had already been added to the squad last week after Harshit Rana was ruled out. Thursday’s decision was about rotation after Arshdeep Singh had been India’s reliable seamer in the first two games.
Shreyas Iyer confirmed the change at the toss. “We would have batted first. It also gives us a fun challenge. It's important that we stick to the moment and not complicate things. One change - Yash comes in for Arshdeep,” he said.
Iyer also made it clear India would not treat the dead rubber as a free hit. “See, there is no room for complacency. It's important that we stick to the moment and see to it that we are basically backing our instincts and not complicating things. Obviously, we are batting first. That doesn't mean that we are going to go completely berserk. We need to adapt,” he added.
Yash Thakur was born in Kolkata on 28 December 1998. He is a right-arm fast-medium bowler who represents Vidarbha in domestic cricket. He made his T20I debut in Zimbabwe in July and took four wickets in two matches. The BCCI later named him as Harshit Rana’s replacement for this series and the Asian Games. “Yash, the 27-year-old fast bowler from Vidarbha, recently made his T20I debut during India’s tour of Zimbabwe in July. He played two matches and took four wickets. He has featured in 50 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches, picking up 81 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 7.04,” the board said.
He has built his case away from the spotlight. In first-class cricket, Yash Thakur has 97 wickets. In List A cricket, he has 90 wickets from 57 matches. In T20s, he has taken 114 scalps. Last season, Yash was Vidarbha’s leading wicket-taker in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 19 wickets, including 4/6 against Baroda and 4/50 in the final against Saurashtra.
Yash Thakur first played in the IPL with Lucknow Super Giants in 2023, taking 4/37 against Punjab Kings. In 2024, he produced 5/30 against Gujarat Titans, dismissing Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan and others in the same spell. He joined Punjab Kings for IPL 2025 and has remained with Iyer’s franchise since.
With the series already won and Jasprit Bumrah back from injury, India used the last Delhi night to give another seamer match time before the Asian Games quarterfinal on 28 September.
Aachal Maniyar is a Senior Content Producer at LiveMint, where she covers US sports with a focus on major leagues, marquee events, and athlete-driven stories, while also reporting extensively on cricket and global sports. With over five years of first-hand journalism experience, she combines sharp editorial judgment with real-time sports storytelling across platforms. <br><br> Her reporting journey spans leading newsrooms including Thomson Reuters, India TV, BTVI, ET NOW, and CNBC TV18, where she has worked across breaking news, live match coverage, feature writing, interviews, video scripting, and anchoring. This multi-platform exposure has shaped her ability to deliver context-rich sports and business journalism tailored for both television and digital audiences. <br><br> Aachal has conducted and produced exclusive interviews with athletes and public figures such as India cricketer Dhruv Jurel, Indian women’s hockey captain Savita Punia, and industrialist Ratan Tata, along with several emerging and established sports personalities. Her body of work includes in-depth explainers, athlete profiles, emotionally resonant fan narratives, and data-backed match analysis across cricket, Olympic sports, and international competitions. <br><br> She holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune, and believes in reporting that is grounded in accuracy, clarity, and credibility. Her philosophy is simple: sports journalism should go beyond scores and statistics, capturing the human stories, pressure moments, and decisions that shape the game and the people who play it.