The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced India's 15-member squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Afghanistan. Shreyas Iyer will continue as India's T20I captain, with Tilak Varma named his deputy. The squad features the return of several key players. Sanju Samson makes his return as a wicketkeeper-batsman after missing India's recent T20I series against Zimbabwe, while Varun Chakaravarthy is back after recovering from a foot injury.
Jasprit Bumrah also returns to the T20I squad, although his participation, along with Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana, is subject to fitness clearance. The squad also includes 19-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who continues to be part of India's T20I plans alongside Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Shivam Dube. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya's comeback bid to international cricket has been delayed once again due to a fresh injury setback.
The Afghanistan series will be an important opportunity for India to regain momentum in the shortest format. India endured a difficult run in the UK, losing both T20Is against Ireland before suffering a 5-0 series defeat against England. The team subsequently bounced back in Zimbabwe, completing a 3-0 T20I series sweep in July.
Afghanistan, meanwhile, will return to T20I action for the first time since the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup in February. The Afghan side played its last T20Is during the tournament in India but failed to progress to the Super 8 stage. Afghanistan's most recent T20I was a victory over Canada on February 19.
India and Afghanistan last played a T20I against each other at the 2024 T20 World Cup, with India winning by 47 runs. But the two sides have regularly faced each other across formats. India hosted Afghanistan for a one-off Test and a three-match ODI series. India won the Test by an innings and 300 runs before completing a 3-0 sweep in the ODIs.India vs Afghanistan T20I 2026 schedule1st T20I: September 13, Delhi2nd T20I: September 15, Delhi3rd T20I: September 17, DelhiIndia's full squad for Afghanistan T20IsShreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma (vc), Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana.***Subject to fitness clearance