India v Afghanistan in Delhi: form, history and a chasing ground

India and Afghanistan open a three-match T20I series at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday 13 September 2026. India have won seven of nine previous T20Is between the sides, with a tie and a no result, and Afghanistan have never beaten them. At this ground, the side batting second has won nine of 14 T20Is.

Afghanistan have played India nine times in T20 internationals and have yet to beat them. On Sunday they start a run of three attempts in five days, all at the same ground in Delhi, against an India side whose results since March look very different from the side that retained the World Cup.

That contrast is the story of the series opener. India arrive as champions with an unsettled recent record. Afghanistan arrive with a new full-time captain and no T20I since February. Every figure below is as at 11 September 2026.

When and where is the India v Afghanistan 1st T20I?

The three-match series is played entirely at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, with a day's gap between games.

Shreyas Iyer captains India, with Tilak Varma as vice-captain. Ibrahim Zadran leads Afghanistan in what the Afghanistan Cricket Board describes as his first assignment as full-time T20I captain. Start times and the rest of the week's fixtures are on the match schedule, and every ball will be on live scores.

What is the India v Afghanistan T20I head-to-head record?

India have won seven of the nine T20Is between the sides. The other two were a no result at Hangzhou in October 2023 and a tie at Bengaluru in January 2024, where both teams made 212 and India won the second Super Over.

Afghanistan's closest night came batting second in Bengaluru, when they matched India's 212 exactly and took the game to two Super Overs. The most recent meeting, at the 2024 World Cup in Bridgetown, went India's way by 47 runs.

How have India played since winning the World Cup?

The high point came on 8 March. India made 255 for 5 in the World Cup final in Ahmedabad and bowled New Zealand out for 159 to win by 96 runs. The ICC noted that India became the first side to defend the T20 World Cup and the first to win it three times. Jasprit Bumrah was Player of the Match with 4 for 15.

The ten T20Is since then have gone differently. Counted from ESPNcricinfo's Statsguru match list:

• Ireland, Belfast (June): lost by 34 runs, then by 1 run.
• England (July): a no result at Chester-le-Street, then defeats at Manchester, Nottingham, Bristol and Southampton.
• Zimbabwe, Harare (July): won all three, by 7 wickets, 90 runs and 35 runs.

That is three wins, six defeats and a no result, after 12 wins from 14 matches between January and the final. The leadership has changed too. ESPN reported in June that Iyer would replace Suryakumar Yadav as captain from the Ireland and England tour, and that Iyer had not played a T20I since December 2023.

This week is India's first T20I cricket since that Zimbabwe tour ended on 26 July, and their first at home since the final.

How have Afghanistan been playing in 2026?

Afghanistan have played seven T20Is this year, with four wins, two defeats and a tie. They took the first two of three against West Indies in Dubai in January, then at the World Cup lost to New Zealand, tied with South Africa, and beat the UAE and Canada.

That Canada match, an 82-run win in Chennai on 19 February, is their most recent T20I. Sunday's game comes 206 days later, a far longer break than India's.

The squad does have returning experience. Naveen-ul-Haq is back after recovering from a right shoulder stress fracture, Gulbadin Naib has been recalled for middle-order depth, and Noor Rahman comes in as a second wicketkeeper alongside Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

What does the Arun Jaitley Stadium pitch do in T20Is?

The ground has staged 14 men's T20Is. The side batting second has won nine of them.

That average hides two very different pictures. India have batted first in all five of their T20Is here and made 202, 148, 211, 221 and 209, an average of about 198. They won three and lost two, and one of the defeats was that South African chase of 212 in 19.1 overs. The other nine first-innings totals at the ground averaged about 147.

The six games from this year's World Cup show the same split. The chasing side won five of them, and the only exception was India's 209 for 9 against Namibia. None of the other five first innings passed 160.

A caveat on sample size: 14 matches over ten years, several involving Associate sides, is a small base. It describes what has happened here, not what Sunday's surface will do.

Which matchups could decide the opener?

Four players carry the most weight in the numbers:

Rashid Khan against India's batters. Rashid's career economy rate is 6.04, but against India it is 7.91. He went wicketless against them in 2021 and 2022, then took 3 for 26 at Bridgetown in 2024. In 2026 he has 11 wickets in seven T20Is at an economy of 5.64.

Abhishek Sharma against the new ball. Abhishek scored 859 runs at 42.95 in 2025, striking at 193.46. In 2026 it is 514 runs at 23.36 from 23 innings, including six ducks, though his strike rate has held at 185.55. He has never batted against Afghanistan in a T20I.

Ibrahim Zadran against Bumrah. Afghanistan's captain arrives in form, with a highest score of 95 not out this year. Bumrah has taken four Afghan wickets for 32 runs in two T20Is, but was named in India's squad subject to fitness clearance, and his 2026 economy of 7.34 is above his career figure.

What selection questions do India and Afghanistan face?

India's squad raises four:

• Fitness: Bumrah, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar were all named subject to fitness clearance.
• Wicketkeeping: Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan are both in the squad as keepers.
• Seam depth: Harshit Rana was ruled out after a rectus femoris strain on 7 September. Yash Thakur replaces him, having taken two wickets in each of his two T20Is in Zimbabwe in July, according to the Free Press Journal.
• Spin: Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel and Sundar give India four spin options.

Afghanistan's questions are about balance:

• Pace: Naveen-ul-Haq's return sits alongside Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai.
• Spin: Rashid, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Nangyal Kharoti are all in the 15.
• All-rounders: Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib both offer overs and middle-order runs.

Both full squads are on the teams and squads pages, and will be updated if either board makes a change before Sunday.

What should viewers watch for on Sunday?

1. The toss and the chase. Nine of the 14 T20Is here have been won by the side batting second.
2. India's powerplay. Abhishek's first T20I innings against Afghanistan, in a year of six ducks and a strike rate still above 185.
3. Rashid's four overs. India have scored at 7.91 an over against him, well above his career rate of 6.04.
4. The first hour after a long break. Afghanistan's first T20I in 206 days, under a new full-time captain.

India have never lost a T20I to Afghanistan, but their results since March are a reason not to treat that record as settled. The numbers above describe form and conditions. The Delhi surface on the night will do the rest.

Figures as at 11 September 2026, from ESPNcricinfo Statsguru, the ICC, the BCCI and the Afghanistan Cricket Board. Squads can change before the toss.

Statistics in this article were checked as at 11 September 2026.

Share this article