India wins second seven-wicket T20I at Arun Jaitley, eyes series whitewash
India beat Afghanistan by seven wickets in the second T20I at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on September 15, 2026, recording a second straight seven-wicket victory in the ongoing T20I series. The result left India poised to complete a series whitewash in the three-match contest.
India’s return to home conditions followed a winless tour of the United Kingdom in June-July, where they failed to win any of six completed T20Is against Ireland and England during Shreyas Iyer’s first assignment as captain. Since July 2024 India have won 23 of 27 T20Is in India, a run that includes the T20 World Cup in February and March which they won for a second successive time, and they have prevailed in every bilateral assignment in India in this period. Although Afghanistan are the official hosts of the series, India chose to chase after winning the toss in both fixtures and comfortably overhauled targets of 157 and 160 under lights.
Afghanistan’s spin unit, led by Rashid Khan, struggled to stem India’s run-chase and the visiting batters failed to provide support for the bowlers. Afghanistan coach Richard Pybus summed up the batting shortfall after the second T20I: “The par total on that wicket would be about 200. That would have given us something realistic to bowl at. We didn’t set a target that could have been defended.”
With the series concluding in Thursday’s (September 17) dead rubber, Pybus said one of the top four would need to bat deep if Afghanistan are to salvage a win. Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been dismissed for nought in both matches so far, and Pybus backed him to respond: “Gurbaz is usually our most explosive player in the top-order. I know he’s really disappointed. He loves the big occasions. I’m sure he’ll have something special for us in the third game.”
India treated the series as a tune-up for the Asian Games in Japan, with Sanju Samson’s half-century and Nitish Kumar’s three-wicket haul in the second T20I boosting confidence within the camp. The team are due to board a flight to eastern Asia to defend their gold medal at the continental games.
The two squads named for the series are as follows: Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (Capt.), Darwish Rasooli, Noor ul Rahman (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Nangeyalia Kharote, Rashid Khan, Abdollah Ahmadzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad. India: Shreyas Iyer (Capt.), Tilak Varma, Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Yash Thakur. Match starts at 7.30 p.m.
The third T20I, a dead rubber, is scheduled for Thursday, September 17, when Afghanistan will attempt to avoid a series whitewash while India conclude their preparatory matches before travelling to the Asian Games.
