Afghanistan vs India 2026 | 2nd T20I | Preview and Predictions
The Abhishek Sharma onslaught meant that India started their series against Afghanistan with a thumping 7 wicket win in a one-sided affair in Delhi. Afghanistan were pretty much outplayed in all departments and they will be looking to come back strong for the second game.
Ahead of the second T20I between Afghanistan and India, here’s our match preview and predictions.
Afghanistan vs India 2026 | | AFG vs IND | 19:30 IST, September 15, 2026
Despite not having played a T20I international since the T20 World Cup 2026 final, Jasprit Bumrah showed his class, providing the early breakthrough and keeping the pressure on the Afghanistani batters. Along with Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh was also on the money with the new ball. Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy were at their economical best, keeping the pressure on and while it was a solid bowling performance as a unit, the only area of improvement will be the fifth bowler with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shivam Dube both leaking runs.
With the bat, India gave Sanju Samson a start against Afghanistan but the wicket-keeper batter failed once again and with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on the bench the question remains as to how long the management can keep a talent like Sooryavanshi on the bench. Chasing an average target, despite losing Samson early, the Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan onslaught meant the duo put on a 119 run stand inside 8 overs which helped India ease to a seven-wicket win, chasing down 157 in 13.4 overs. The fifth bowling option would be the only cause of concern for Shreyas Iyer and the coaching camp as they look to tick off all the boxes before the Asian Games next month.
The hosts, Afghanistan had a horror start with the bat as some poor shot selection and mix ups saw Afghanistan slip to 43/5 before a late recovery partnership from Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi saw Afghanistan manage to post a respectable but under par 156. The batting unit will need to step up and given the boundary sizes and how well the ball came on to the bat for Omarzai and Nabi, Afghanistan know that if they apply themselves they can put up a fight.
With the ball, the Afghanistani bowlers were taken apart by Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan with their star spinner Rashid Khan going the distance as other than Mujeeb Ur Rahman, all the bowlers went over 9rpo. The bowlers will have their task cut out, now that they have a better understanding of the wicket.
The Delhi strip showed that it was a good batting pitch and small boundaries means that there will be runs on offer once again and India starts as favourites once again, although we expect Afghanistan to put up a better fight.
Fantasy XI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma (vc), Ishan Kishan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Axar Patel, Rashid Khan, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Azmatullah Omarzai
Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Winners Prediction: India
