New Delhi: Afghanistan face a must-win situation in the second T20I against India after a comprehensive seven-wicket defeat in the series opener. Shreyas Iyer’s India produced a near-complete performance in Delhi on Sunday and will look to close out the series with another dominant display.
India have a few areas of concern heading into the second match. The bowling attack functioned smoothly, with Arshdeep Singh leading the way with three wickets to restrict Afghanistan to 156/8. Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy both made successful returns from injury, while Axar Patel completed a reliable core group.
Chakravarthy has been ruled out of the series with a side strain, while the other notable issue is the fifth bowling option in the absence of Hardik Pandya.
Shivam Dube and Nitish Kumar Reddy, both returning from injury, struggled with the ball. Reddy conceded 30 runs in two overs, while Dube leaked 21 in his only over. With the specialist quartet of Arshdeep, Bumrah, Axar and Chakravarthy doing the majority of the job, India were never truly tested. Iyer will still want a more settled fifth option, especially with the Asian Games approaching.
With the bat, Abhishek Sharma’s 82 and Ishan Kishan’s 42 guided India to a comfortable chase. Sanju Samson, preferred over Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, managed only 10 and he will be under pressure to justify his place. The World Cup star will be eager to make an impact and retain his opening slot as India finalise their plans for the Asian Games in Japan.
While India’s concerns are relatively minor, Afghanistan have a significant work to do. The visitors lacked both batting firepower and bowling penetration in the first match. Reduced to 41/4 inside the powerplay, they never properly recovered to put India under pressure. A middle-order partnership between Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai offered brief resistance, but the total proved inadequate against a strong Indian side.
Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran admitted as much after the game: “We had three overs of a good start, then we didn’t contribute well. We gave them back-to-back wickets and they put pressure on us. We batted well in the middle overs, but we didn’t put lots of runs on the board what we wanted.”
For Afghanistan to have any chance of levelling the series, their top order must fire and the entire team will need a far more complete performance against the world champions.
When will the 2nd T20I between India and Afghanistan be played?
The second T20I will take place on Tuesday (Sept 15). The toss is scheduled for 7:00 pm IST.
Where is the match being played?
The match will be held at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
Where can fans watch the game?
The live telecast of the second T20I between India and Afghanistan will be available on Sony Sports Network in India and fans can livestream it on Fancode.
Teams
India: Sheryas Iyer (captain), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryvanshi, Yash Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi.
Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (captain), Darwish Rasooli, Noor ul Rahman, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Nangeliya Kharote, Abdollah Amhedzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmed.
