Afghanistan vs India 2026 | 3rd T20I | Preview and Predictions

After securing the series win in the second T20I, Shreyas Iyer confirmed his first series win at home as captain and will be looking to make it a white-wash. Afghanistan meanwhile will be looking to avoid a drubbing and will look to end the series on the high. 

Ahead of the third T20I between Afghanistan and India, here’s our match preview and predictions.

Afghanistan vs India 2026 |  | AFG vs IND | 19:30 IST, September 17, 2026

Shreyas Iyer has decided to chase in both games so far with the Indian bowlers having an early crack at the Afghani batters. Jasprit Bumrah was at his consistent best but it was the spin duo of Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi turning on the screws at the start. Bishnoi and Axar kept it tight and chipped in with a couple of wickets which brought out the middle order in the middle inside the first 10 overs. The biggest positive with the ball for India in the second game was the fact that Nitish Kumar Reddy stepped up with the ball and not only was Reddy amongst the wickets, Reddy’s tight lines and wicket taking ability gave Shreyas Iyer some breathing space, given the Indian camp were struggling with a fifth bowling option, especially given Hardik Pandya’s injury and absence. With Varun Chakravarthy being ruled out of the series a day before the second game, Ravi Bishnoi got a game and was impressive and should India want, they also have Washington Sundar as a spin option in the squad.

Chasing another average target, Sanju Samson finally got some runs under his belt and it was his first score of above 30 since the T20 World Cup 2026 final! Abhishek Sharma was at his destructive best with Samson and Sharma putting up a 88 run opening stand in 6.2 overs. Chasing 160, the opening stand more or less confirmed the win for India and Ishan Kishan continued his strong run of form while Tilak Varma got some runs and time in the middle as well. The batting hasn’t been tested in the series yet and while India wouldn’t have too much of an issue with that, Iyer and the coaching camp wouldn’t mind if the middle and lower order spent some time out in the middle in the final over ahead of the Asian Games 2026.

Afghanistan’s struggles with the bat continued as their batters continued to fail to convert their starts. Their experienced opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz has had two ducks and Afghanistan will hope Gurbaz finds some runs to see out the series. The middle order of Gulbadin Naib, Darwish Rasooli and Sediqullah Atal haven’t done much either with their shot selection being something the Afghanistan camp would be looking at. It has been contributions from the lower order with Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan that has seen them reach respectable totals but Afghanistan will be hoping their batters step up and their shot selection improves. With not much on the board to defend and against an explosive and scary Indian batting unit, the Afghanistan bowlers have had a rough time in the middle with the short boundaries not helping. The spinners have been handy but Afghanistan would need their new ballers to provide early breakthroughs.

The Delhi wicket has shown that the odd ball stops and holds up, helping the medium pacers and spinners but it also means, if the bowlers miss their lengths, there isn’t much in the pitch to help and runs are on offer. The Indian bowlers have had the better of the Afghani batters and it looks like it will be a clean sweep from Shreyas Iyer and co. 

Fantasy XI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma (vc), Ishan Kishan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Gulbadin Naib, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammad Nabi, Axar Patel, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Azmatullah Omarzai

Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

Winners Prediction: India