1st T20I, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi — September 13, 2026
For the first time in international cricket, Afghanistan are the home side against India — and they’re doing it not in Kabul or Kandahar, but in the heart of India’s own capital. It’s a quietly poetic arrangement. A few kilometres from the ground sits Lajpat Nagar, a neighbourhood built by refugees that has since become an unofficial “Mini Kabul,” home to Afghan restaurants, spice shops and currency exchanges. On the field, though, the welcome won’t be nearly as warm: Afghanistan haven’t played a T20I since February’s World Cup, but with their core group intact and a fresh sense of purpose, they see this series as a genuine opportunity against an Indian side still finding its feet.
Where the two teams stand
India arrive in transition. Since becoming the first team to successfully defend a T20 World Cup title, they have dropped series in both Ireland — their first defeat there in three years — and England, with only a win over Zimbabwe to show since. They are, however, close to full strength again, with Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy both returning to the XI. Hardik Pandya and Harshit Rana remain the notable absentees through injury.
Afghanistan, meanwhile, welcome back seamer Naveen-ul-Haq after he missed the World Cup, while backup wicketkeeper Noor ul Rahman and allrounder Nangeyalia Kharote round out the squad’s only other changes. Having lost the Test and all three ODIs on their earlier tour of India this year, Afghanistan will be desperate to finally get one over the only Full Member nation they’ve never beaten.
Recent form (last five completed T20Is, most recent first):
- Afghanistan: W W L L L
- India: W W W L L
Key figures to watch
Rashid Khan, no longer Afghanistan’s captain, endured a quieter IPL spell with just ten and nine wickets across his last two seasons — but he found rhythm again more recently and will look to lead the attack on experience alone. His only outing at this Delhi ground this year yielded excellent figures in a tight win for Gujarat Titans.
Shreyas Iyer, India’s captain, faces the sharper spotlight. He already has the unwanted distinction of overseeing India’s first series loss in three years, and now must solve a selection puzzle at the top of the order: with Sanju Samson back in the fold alongside teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma, only two of the three can open. All three arrive with credentials — Samson was Player of the Tournament at the T20 World Cup, Sooryavanshi took the same honour in the recent Zimbabwe series, and Abhishek was preferred over Samson when Sooryavanshi made his debut in England.
New Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran, who has taken the reins from Rashid, struck a confident tone ahead of the series, saying the squad’s experience playing in India — across the T20 and ODI World Cups — means they simply need to execute their plans.
Team news
Afghanistan’s main call is over their pace attack: whether to go with just Azmatullah Omarzai as the lone seam-bowling allrounder plus one specialist quick (Fazalhaq Farooqi or the returning Naveen-ul-Haq), or to fit in both of them at the expense of a spinner — either Mujeeb Ur Rahman or Noor Ahmad.
Afghanistan (probable XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (capt), Gulbadin Naib, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi/Naveen-ul-Haq
India, for their part, have an embarrassment of allrounder riches — Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Shivam Dube are all in the mix. Bumrah, Varun and Arshdeep Singh look set to fill the specialist bowling slots, but Rana’s absence leaves a tricky call at No. 8 between a pure bowler and a batting allrounder who may not always deliver a full four overs.
India (probable XI): Two of Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Sanju Samson (openers), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (capt), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy
Conditions
Delhi wasn’t the fastest-scoring venue on the IPL circuit this year, but even a middling ranking still meant well over nine runs an over on average. With short boundaries and little seam movement expected once the sun goes down, this looks set up for a high-scoring contest. The monsoon has largely cleared out of northern India, so conditions should hold up through the night.
Numbers worth knowing
- Should he play, Sooryavanshi would become the youngest player from a Full Member nation to appear in international cricket on Indian soil.
- Mohammad Nabi already holds the record as the oldest Full Member player to feature in a T20I in India.
- Shreyas Iyer has won the toss in all nine of his international matches as captain so far.
- Nabi needs 52 more runs to become the first Afghan to reach 2,500 T20I runs.
- Rashid Khan is seven wickets away from becoming the first bowler in history to reach 200 T20I wickets.
How the match is unfolding
India won the toss and chose to field first. Early in the innings, Afghanistan were off to a solid start, reaching 38 for 2 after just over four overs — a run rate above nine an over — with the pre-match forecast model projecting a total in the region of 180. India go into the contest as favourites, given roughly a 58% win probability by pre-match models, though on a ground built for boundaries and firepower, nothing is settled yet.
Based on match preview and live coverage from ESPN Cricinfo, September 13, 2026.
