A blistering 82 off 32 balls put Afghanistan to the sword in Delhi, and India now return to the same ground looking to wrap up the series
Two days after Abhishek Sharma turned what looked like a competitive target into little more than a formality, India and Afghanistan are back at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi today for the second T20I of their three-match series, with the hosts holding a 1-0 lead and a genuine chance to close things out early.
India’s Abhishek Sharma celebrates during his 82-run innings against Afghanistan in the first T20I in Delhi
An Opening Over That Set the Tone
The contest barely had time to breathe before India struck. Jasprit Bumrah, opening the bowling, produced a delivery of vicious bounce that Afghanistan wicketkeeper-opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz could only fend towards first slip, where Abhishek Sharma completed a sharp catch to send Afghanistan two balls into their innings without a run on the board. It was the kind of start that immediately put Afghanistan’s innings on the back foot, and despite a battling contribution from Azmatullah Omarzai that steadied things somewhat, the visitors could only push their total to 156 for 8 in their twenty overs, with Arshdeep Singh finishing with figures of 3 for 19 to lead India’s bowling effort.
Sharma Turns the Chase Into an Exhibition
If Afghanistan’s total of 157 felt gettable on paper, nobody could have predicted quite how emphatically India would get there. Abhishek Sharma tore into the Afghanistan attack from the outset, racing to fifty inside the powerplay and continuing to find the boundary with almost every over that followed. By the time he was finally dismissed, brilliantly caught by Rashid Khan running back from deep midwicket off the bowling of Mohammad Nabi, Sharma had made 82 runs off just 32 balls, an innings built on seven fours and seven sixes that left the required rate a distant memory.
His stand with Ishan Kishan added exactly the kind of momentum India needed, with the pair putting on a hundred runs inside the first eleven overs of the chase. What Afghanistan had posted as a defendable total in the morning had been reduced, by the time drinks were taken at the halfway mark, to a target India were cruising past with more than half their overs still in hand. The chase was wrapped up in just 13.4 overs, giving India a seven-wicket win with 38 balls to spare.
A Continuation, Not a One-Off
Sharma’s innings in Delhi was not an isolated burst of form. Across recent months, he has repeatedly been the player turning India’s T20 chases into non-events, from a rapid unbeaten fifty that sealed a series win over New Zealand to a string of match-defining knocks that have made him arguably the most feared opener in the format right now. For a batter who made his international debut only a little over two years ago, the consistency with which he is now dismantling attacks has begun to look less like a purple patch and more like a settled ceiling.
What Today’s Meeting Could Decide
With the first game done and dusted, today’s second T20I carries the straightforward incentive of an unassailable series lead for India, who would confirm the series with victory and leave Afghanistan needing to win the remaining two matches just to draw level. For Afghanistan, today represents less a chance to level the series outright and more an opportunity to arrest the momentum before it snowballs further, particularly against an Indian batting lineup that showed in the series opener just how quickly a target can be overrun once Sharma finds his range. The third and final match is scheduled for September 17, also in Delhi, giving Afghanistan one more roll of the dice regardless of how today unfolds.
The Bigger Picture for a Champion Side
For India, currently the reigning T20 World Champions, series like this against Afghanistan serve a dual purpose, offering both a chance to fine-tune combinations ahead of future assignments and a reminder of the depth now available across the batting order. With senior names rotating in and out of the T20 setup and younger players like Sharma cementing their places through sheer weight of performance, today’s match in Delhi is as much about squad building as it is about the scoreline, even if a series win this afternoon would be the more immediate and satisfying headline.
