New Delhi, Sept 2026 : India won the toss and elected to bowl first against Afghanistan in the second T20I of the three-match series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday, with the hosts looking to seal the series after a dominant performance in the opening game.
India made one change to their playing XI, bringing in leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi in place of the injured Varun Chakaravarthy. Afghanistan, meanwhile, retained the same XI as they look to bounce back and level the series.
India began the series with a commanding victory, with both their batting and bowling units making a strong impact. Afghanistan struggled early with the bat before a crucial partnership between Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi helped them recover.
Omarzai and Nabi put together an 83-run partnership to take Afghanistan to a total of 156. However, the target proved insufficient as India’s top order launched a powerful chase.
Abhishek Sharma provided the foundation for India’s emphatic victory, smashing 82 runs from just 32 deliveries. His aggressive innings helped India race towards the target at a remarkable scoring rate and left Afghanistan’s bowlers struggling to contain the hosts.
India’s bowlers also played a key role in the opening match. Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy kept the Afghan batters under pressure, while Arshdeep Singh claimed three wickets to restrict the visitors.
Chakaravarthy, however, will miss the remainder of the series after suffering a side strain. His absence presents India with a challenge in the bowling department, particularly with all-rounder Hardik Pandya also unavailable. The team will be keen to assess whether Bishnoi can effectively fill the gap created by Chakaravarthy.
Speaking after winning the toss, India captain Shreyas Iyer said the pitch offered bowlers some advantage and explained the decision to chase.
“We are going to bowl first. You have a fair idea of how the wicket plays, and it gives the bowlers an idea, a little bit of an advantage,” Iyer said.
Reflecting on the first match, he added that India’s victory could have been more comprehensive and said the bowling unit needed to improve its performance in the middle overs.
“It wasn't comprehensive because we could have won by a huge margin. As a bowling unit, we could have picked wickets in the middle. Varun is injured, and Ravi Bishnoi comes in,” Iyer said.
Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran said his team would also have preferred to bowl first. He acknowledged the poor start in the opening game but said the visitors were determined to play positively.
“We would have bowled first as well. We want to play positive cricket; we didn't get a good start that day, but we covered in the middle. We will try to do better tonight,” Zadran said.
With Afghanistan needing a victory to keep the three-match series alive, the visitors will be expected to improve their performance against India’s new-ball attack and produce a stronger batting display.
India, meanwhile, will aim to maintain their momentum and secure another victory to take an unassailable lead in the series.
Playing XIs
India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravi Bishnoi.
Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
