New Delhi: After Afghanistan lost the one-off Test and ODI series against India in 2026, the visitors are now staring at another series defeat. If Afghanistan lose today’s second T20I (live from 7:30 pm), they are highly likely to surrender the T20 series trophy as well.
The second match of the three-match series will be played today at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. India won the opening encounter by seven wickets on Sunday, with Arshdeep Singh emerging as the leading wicket-taker with three wickets. If India, led by Shreyas Iyer, win again today, they will take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Afghanistan must win today at all costs to stay alive in the series. Otherwise, it will be their third consecutive series defeat against India this year.
Another significant aspect is that Afghanistan are playing in India as the hosts for the first time. With their players facing security concerns in Pakistan and some other countries, Afghanistan have adopted India as their home venue. However, they will be particularly keen to avoid losing a series against India on their adopted home ground.
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Varun Chakravarthy injured, will miss both matches
World No. 1 T20 bowler Varun Chakravarthy will miss both today’s match and Thursday’s final T20I because of an injury. He took one wicket in the opening match on Sunday.
Chakravarthy is suffering from muscular pain, but there are hopes that he will recover in time for the Asian Games to be held in Japan later this month.
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Will Vaibhav get a chance instead of Samson today?
Wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson was dismissed for just 10 runs in Sunday’s opening match. However, his opening partner Abhishek Sharma emerged as the match-winner with a blazing 82.
India could possibly hand young Vaibhav Suryavanshi an opportunity today in place of Samson.
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Probable Playing XIs
India: Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Tilak Varma (Vice-Captain), Abhishek Sharma/Sanju Samson (Wicketkeeper)/Vaibhav Suryavanshi (any two of the three), Ishan Kishan (Wicketkeeper), Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.
Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (Captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Wicketkeeper), Gulbadin Naib, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi/Naveen-ul-Haq.
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