With India's squad and the venue question already settled, the other side of the September 13-17 T20I series has now confirmed its own squad. Afghanistan's 15 for the series in Delhi is led by Ibrahim Zadran, and the headline inclusions are two experienced names working their way back into the squad: Naveen-ul-Haq and Gulbadin Naib.
Afghanistan's full 15: Ibrahim Zadran (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Noor Rahman (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdullah Ahmadzai and Naveen-ul-Haq. It is a settled, experienced group built around Afghanistan's core white-ball attack rather than an experimental one.
Zadran took over the T20I captaincy from Rashid Khan back in March, after Afghanistan's early exit from the group stage of the 2026 T20 World Cup and the appointment of Richard Pybus as head coach in place of Jonathan Trott. His first assignment in the role was a T20I series against Sri Lanka in Sharjah; the Delhi series against India will be his first time leading the side specifically against a full-strength Indian team. Rashid Khan remains in the squad as a player under the new captain, giving Zadran one of the format's best bowlers to call on even without the leadership burden.
The bigger fitness story is Naveen-ul-Haq. The fast bowler was ruled out of both the T20I series against West Indies and the entire 2026 T20 World Cup with a stress fracture in his right shoulder, an injury serious enough to need surgery in the UK. His return to the national setup for the India series is the clearest sign yet that the rehab has gone to plan, and it gives Afghanistan back a bowler who offers genuine pace at the death — an option their attack has otherwise leaned less on, given how heavily it's built around spin.
Gulbadin Naib's recall adds a different kind of depth: a middle-order all-rounder who can bowl useful overs of medium pace and has troubled India before in T20Is, including a couple of match-turning fifties against them in the past. His inclusion gives Zadran more batting depth without sacrificing bowling options, in a squad that otherwise leans hard on its front-line spin trio.
Whatever changes at the margins, Afghanistan's identity in this format starts with Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad and Mujeeb Ur Rahman — arguably as deep a spin-bowling group as any side in world cricket carries into a bilateral series. Azmatullah Omarzai and Fazalhaq Farooqi round out the pace options alongside Naveen-ul-Haq, while Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sediqullah Atal give the top order the aggressive intent Afghanistan have built their recent white-ball cricket around.
Analysis: with India's own squad carrying several players on conditional fitness clearance, a full-strength Afghanistan attack — spin-heavy, with a fit Naveen-ul-Haq restoring some pace variety — is a genuine assignment rather than a formality before the Asian Games. Afghanistan have troubled far more fancied sides than their ranking suggests in recent years, and a spin attack this deep on Delhi pitches in September is exactly the kind of challenge India's batters can't afford to take lightly.
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Squad names, captaincy history and Naveen-ul-Haq's injury timeline are verified against same-day reporting on Afghanistan's squad announcement, current as of September 4, 2026.
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