AFG vs IND 2026: Afghanistan vs India Highlights & Review – 1st T20I

IND crush Afghanistan by 7 wkts in T20I opener — Abhishek Sharma plays an absolute ripper

Delhi, Sept 13 — India got the 3-match T20I series off to a flying start, dismantling Afghanistan by seven wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Shreyas Iyer won the toss and put the team out to field first, and it was the right call.

Afghanistan got a bit of a wobble, losing wickets at regular intervals, but Nabi and Omarzai dragged them back into it with a brutal 83-run 6th-wicket stand. Omarzai finished top-score with a quick-fire 64 (44), and Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the Indian attack with 3/19 — tidy figures that kept the run rate in check. A respectable 156/8.

Then Abhishek Sharma took the game away from Afghanistan.

The lefty opener went absolutely nuclear in reply, blasting 82 off just 32 balls — SR of 256.25, with 7 fours and 7 sixes. He and Ishan Kishan shared a match-winning 121-run 2nd-wicket partnership off 53 balls, and India closed out the chase in a mere 13.4 overs, finishing on 160/3. Comfortable is an understatement.

Records flying everywhere:

- Abhishek-Kishan's 121-run stand is the highest-ever 100+ partnership against Afghanistan in T20Is.

- Abhishek's 234.88 SR against Rashid Khan (101 runs off 43) is the highest among 113 batters to face 30+ balls from him.

- 2nd-fastest Indian to 6,000 T20 runs (3,420 balls).

- 14th fifty-plus score in T20Is — 12 of them off 25 balls or fewer. SKY trails with 9.

- Bumrah hit 350 T20 wickets — 3rd Indian after Chahal and Bhuvneshwar.

Player of the Match: Abhishek Sharma, no brainer.

Next up: T20I No. 2 on Tuesday, Sept 15. India lead 1-0.

— Ishaan_K

Source: Crictracker