India's three-match T20I series against Afghanistan opened at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium on September 13 with a lopsided result on the scoreboard but two individual moments that mattered more than the margin: Abhishek Sharma's explosive 82 to seal a seven-wicket win, and Jasprit Bumrah's first international wicket since his knee injury.
Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to field, and it was Bumrah — playing his first international match since a left-knee injury ruled him out of India's tour of Sri Lanka — who made the earliest impact, removing Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck inside his opening over. It was the ideal start to a comeback India had been managing carefully for weeks, and it set the tone for a disciplined new-ball spell from India's attack that left Afghanistan reeling at 43 for 5 inside seven overs.
From that position, Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi put together an 83-run stand off 56 balls for the sixth wicket to rebuild the innings, Omarzai finishing unbeaten on 64 off 44 balls with four fours and four sixes, and Nabi contributing 33. It got Afghanistan to 156 for 8 — a total that looked competitive on a used surface but one India's top order made short work of. Arshdeep Singh was the pick of India's bowlers with 3 for 19, while Bumrah finished with 1 for 26 in a workload-managed spell, and Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel picked up a wicket apiece.
India's reply barely got past the fielding restrictions before the game was decided. Sanju Samson lasted only eight balls before mistiming a pull off Omarzai to deep square leg for 10, but Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan then put on 121 runs off 53 balls for the second wicket, with Abhishek reaching fifty in just 22 balls — the third time he has brought up a 22-ball fifty in T20Is — on his way to 82 off 32, hitting seven fours and seven sixes at a strike rate of 256.25. Kishan supported with 42 off 33. India closed the chase out at 157 for 3 in 13.4 overs, winning by seven wickets with 38 balls unused. Abhishek Sharma was named Player of the Match.
With India winning eight of their previous nine T20I meetings with Afghanistan, the result itself was rarely in doubt once the innings broke down the way it did. What the match did settle was more useful heading into the Asian Games: Bumrah came through a full over unscathed and picked up a wicket in the process, and Abhishek Sharma's form — a recurring theme of his T20I career — looked in good order against an Afghanistan attack that had been expected to test India's batters more than it ultimately did. Kishan's own fitness is also worth watching after he managed a minor back niggle in training earlier in the week, ahead of an innings that saw him bat through without needing a runner. Two more T20Is remain, in Delhi on September 15 and 17, with India now 1-0 up in the series and both remaining games effectively free hits before squads are finalised for the Asian Games later this month.
The remaining two T20Is are covered ball-by-ball on SportGod's live matches page, with AI-powered match predictions published ahead of each game and fantasy contests open in SportGod's free games.
Match scores, individual figures and the series scoreline are verified against same-day match reports, current as of September 14, 2026.
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