🏏Afghanistan vs India in India 2026: 2nd T20I in Delhi on 15/09/26🏏- Page 2

Worried about Varun news who is out of On going series but stay with the team in Asian Games

Side strain is common issue for Spinners, Ashwin have suffered badly in the past

Part timer often lick too many runs, plus Team bowling balance need to restore too soon

Thank you for the tag Raji ☺️

Thanks for the tag

I want to see tight competition Not one sided.

Thank you Raji for the thread and for tagging.

Best wishes to both teams.

Afghanistan is Asia's second-best team but a lack of enough matches is hurting them.

The match at New Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium was defined by three notable "firsts": the Indian cricket team sang Vande Mataram together before a match for the first time, Richard Pybus made his T20I head coaching debut for Afghanistan, and the Afghan squad played their first international T20 since the 2026 T20 World Cup, with the resulting seven-month layoff showing clearly in their initial batting struggles.

The hosts face a fresh selection headache after Varun Chakravarthy was ruled out with a side strain, adding to the absence of Hardik Pandya. Captain Shreyas Iyer must find a solution to the fifth-bowler problem, with Ravi Bishnoi and Washington Sundar among the options.

Abhishek Sharma's explosive 82 and Arshdeep Singh's three-wicket haul were key to Sunday's win, while Sanju Samson remains under pressure. Afghanistan, meanwhile, needs a vastly improved batting effort to stay alive.

Fifth-Bowler Conundrum

With Hardik Pandya unavailable and Chakravarthy now ruled out, India have a significant gap to fill in their bowling combination. Shivam Dube and Nitish Kumar Reddy struggled with the ball in the series opener, conceding 59 runs between them and part-time spinner Abhishek Sharma. Iyer could turn to Ravi Bishnoi or Washington Sundar for greater control.

IND Eye Series Victory

India head into the second T20I with a 1-0 lead after a commanding seven-wicket victory in the series opener. Shreyas Iyer's side will now look to wrap up the three-match series with another strong performance and secure the captain's first home T20I series win, while Afghanistan face a must-win contest to keep their hopes of levelling the series alive.

Ibrahim Zadran and Co. certainly didn't get the homecoming they would have hoped for, as they were thoroughly outplayed in the opening T20I on Sunday. Afghanistan's top five managed just 24 runs between them before Azmatullah Omarzai's 64* and Mohammad Nabi's 33 dragged them past 150. But with Delhi's shorter boundaries, it was never going to be enough. India chased down the target in under 14 overs, powered by a breathtaking 82 off 32 from Abhishek Sharma. Afghanistan are still searching for their first win over India in any format and must raise their game tonight to keep the series alive.

Purnima Malhotra is in Delhi and says: "Hello from FSK. A bit cloudy today, but doesn't look threatening at all. Very little crowd so far, probably because of a weekday. Not a lot of activity thus far from either of the two camps. Afghanistan have just started a bit of footy. Just a bit of warm-ups otherwise." She also informs us that Pitch No. 4 will be used today, while the last match was played on Pitch No. 6.