For the first time, Afghanistan will host India in an international series. Starting on September 13, the three-match T20I series will take place at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium. Afghanistan had recently come to India for one Test and three ODI matches, losing all the games to Men in Blue.
The first T20I will also see India having the services of some players who have recovered from injuries and will most likely field their best possible playing XI for the series. Given that India will fly to Japan for the Asian Games, many of their players will need more game exposure; hence, here is the strongest playing XI for Afghanistan T20Is.
Here is India’s predicted India’s strongest playing XI for the Afghanistan T20I series:
Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi are likely to be the opening batters for India. Though Abhishek Sharma has been struggling with the bat, his Sher-E-Punjab T20 numbers are very good, and he can also bowl some overs. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi found form in the Zimbabwe series after a tough India debut in England.
Ishan Kishan is likely to be chosen over Sanju Samson for the No. 3 spot and wicketkeeper job, given his form in domestic cricket and for India. Captain Shreyas Iyer and vice-captain Tilak Varma will be the middle-order enforcers for the Indian team. Spin all-rounder Axar Patel follows next, while pace all-rounder Shivam Dube will be the enforcer down the order.
It will be interesting to see whether India goes with all-rounder Washington Sundar or pure spinner Ravi Bishnoi, given Delhi is a pitch where spin rules. Varun Chakaravarthy is primed to take the pure spinner spot. Chakaravarthy will be returning from a hairline fracture injury that he suffered in IPL 2026.
Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah are expected to be the two main pacers. Bumrah’s inclusion is interesting given that he last played in the England ODI series and missed the Sri Lanka Tests due to a knee impact injury.
Here is the Predicted India’s strongest playing XI:
Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (WK), Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi/Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy
