🏏Afghanistan vs India in India 2026: 2nd T20I in Delhi on 15/09/26🏏- Page 3

It's Round 2 of Afghanistan vs India in New Delhi, with India 1-0 ahead in the series. The last game ended up as a major mismatch between the two top orders. Afghanistan's was blown away and they had to rely on the lower middle order for a rescue act. Meanwhile, yet another Abhishek Sharma six-storm meant Afghanistan could barely try and test India's batting beyond the top three. Can Afghanistan come back and level the series, or will India once again dominate in Delhi? Let's find out.

India have their own set of concerns. Ace spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, who had just returned after a two-month layoff, complained of a side strain following the first T20I and has now been ruled out of the series. He is also a doubt for the upcoming Asian Games in Japan. Ravi Bishnoi is the only other frontline spinner in the squad and, despite being around for a while, the legspinner hasn't quite shown the consistency expected of him. Hardik Pandya is unavailable for this series, and his absence was felt in the first T20I as India's fifth and sixth bowling options leaked 59 runs in four overs. Nitish Reddy was taken for 30 in his two overs, while Shivam Dube conceded 21 in his solitary over. Sanju Samson is also under pressure. With Vaibhav Sooryavanshi waiting in the wings, he can't afford too many more quiet outings after his cheap dismissal in the first T20I. He has already made way for Sooryavanshi once, during the England series. Alright, the toss isn't too far away.

Naveen-ul-Haq is back in Afghanistan's squad, but wasn't considered match-fit for the first game. Will he make Afghanistan's team today?

Ronak: "Good morning from beautiful Charlotte, NC. Just got to work, getting first of many coffees and thinking to myself, is it too early to question selection and start Sanju vs Sooryavanshi debate? " -- No harm in having a debate about the topic. My personal opinion is that the incumbents - Samson and Abhishek - should keep their places, with Sooryavanshi there as a rotation option. Sooryavanshi can be used in dead-rubbers or against lower-wrung opposition to give him more experience.

I agree with this guy. Suryvanshi should not be rushed into international arena.

Shreyas Iyer: We are going to bowl first. You have a fair idea how the wicket plays, and it gives the bowlers an idea, a little bit of an advantage. It wasn't comprehesive 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.

India have won the toss and have opted to field

Ravi Bishnoi

Ibrahim Zadran: 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. We are playing the same XI.

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran(c), Sediqullah Atal, Gulbadin Naib, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi

India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravi Bishnoi

Pitch Report: A little bit of dampness and dryness. How much damnpness is there, how deep it is, we don't know. Just feel it's a little drier than the last night. But it's a very good surface and short boundaries here. India have done well to win the toss and bowl first. They would be happy.

India won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Teams:

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran(c), Sediqullah Atal, Gulbadin Naib, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi

India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah

India win this one