India asked to bat first in 3rd T20I in New Delhi; Sooryavanshi omitted from India XI
India were asked to bat first in the third and final T20I against Afghanistan in New Delhi on September 17, 2026, with 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi omitted from India's playing XI. Yash Thakur came into the side in place of Arshdeep Singh.
Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja rang the bell to mark the start of the match as the umpires and players took the field and Afghanistan occupied their respective positions. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson walked out to open for India, with Fazalhaq Farooqi given the new ball; the umpire then said "Let's Play".
The opening exchanges saw Abhishek Sharma get off the mark with a boundary off Fazalhaq Farooqi, while Sanju Samson collected a single as Farooqi bowled a probing good-length delivery that moved a touch. Commentary and live updates noted Farooqi had bowled only one over in the previous game before being handed the new ball for this match.
India's selected XI read: Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Thakur (In place of Arshdeep Singh). Afghanistan's XI was named as: Ibrahim Zadran (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Noor ul Rahman (In place of Noor Ahmad and On Debut), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Abdollah Ahmadzai (In place of Gulbadin Naib), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
The broadcasters' pitch analysis featured Sanjay Manjrekar and Murali Kartik describing this as pitch number six, with longer square boundaries and some dryness that previously assisted spinners; Kartik said seamers had found something by holding a line back of a length and using the slower ball. Manjrekar also highlighted that the leg-side boundary opens up relatively more for right-handers and noted the surface had played better than in the first game.
India captain Shreyas Iyer said they would have batted first anyway, calling it a fun challenge and adding that there is no room for complacency; he stressed that batting first did not mean they were "going to go berserk," and that it was important to stay in the moment and not complicate things. Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran described the wicket as a bit supportive to bowlers and said they would try to execute their plans to restrict India to a chaseable score, while acknowledging his side had lost the series and aiming to improve in areas they had not performed well.
Rashid Khan urged Afghanistan to find solutions in the powerplay and praised India's young batting, describing Abhishek Sharma as "a 'very big package' for Team India" and calling 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a "God-gifted talent." He also named Noor Ahmad and Abdollah Ahmadzai as players to watch and discussed an ICC achievement he still wants in his book.
This fixture is the third and final T20I of the series; Afghanistan have already lost the series, and the match in New Delhi continues with India batting first.
