Afghanistan will host India for an international series for the very first time. The three-match T20I series will be played from September 13 onwards, and all the games will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Afghanistan had recently come to India for one Test and three ODI matches, losing all the games to the Men in Blue. However, the T20I format is something where the Afghanistan team excels. However, with the format dominated by batters, this will be a battle of Afghan batters and Indian batters. And we take a look at 5 batters to watch out for in the T20I series.
Here are the 5 batters to watch out for in the AFG vs IND T20I series:
5. Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Rahmanullah Gurbaz is one of the best Afghanistan T20I batters in the world today. He has scored 2280 runs in 87 T20Is with one century and 13 fifties, with a strike rate of 135.55 and a best score of 100. Gurbaz was excellent in the recent ODIs for Afghanistan in India and has done well in the IPL as well. Expect him to do well for his team when they play India in T20Is.
4. Ibrahim Zadran
Ibrahim Zadran, the new T20I captain of Afghanistan, is an excellent Test and ODI batter, while T20I credentials warrant more. In 65 T20Is, Zadran has 1865 runs with 16 fifties and a best score of 95*, but the concerning thing is the strike rate of 114.83. Zadran has often batted in the top order at nos. 2 or 3, and expect him to anchor the Afghan batting and other hitters batting around him.
3. Abhishek Sharma
The former no. 1-ranked T20I batter Abhishek Sharma will be in focus in the Afghanistan series, as it will be crucial practice for Asian Games 2026 prep. Abhishek Sharma has 1629 runs in 56 games with 2 centuries and 11 fifties, with a strike rate of 187.24 and a best score of 163. 5. Abhishek Sharma would love a few big scores under his belt before the Asian Games, and what better to face Afghanistan in Delhi, where lots of runs are scored?
2. Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan had an excellent outing in T20Is recently, leading to him becoming the No. 1 ranked batter in the T20I format. Kishan has scored 1,608 runs in 55 games, with one century and 12 fifties, with the best score of 103 and a strike rate of 146.31. In 2026 itself, Kishan has 812 runs with a strike rate of 176.90. Kishan will love to bat in Delhi, as he knows the pitches and will love to get some game time under his belt.
1. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will be in focus if he is chosen for the India squad for the Afghanistan T20Is. Sooryavanshi made his T20I debut in England and won Player of the Series against Zimbabwe. He scored two fifties and has a strike rate of 189.21, scoring 193 runs in 6 games. Sooryavanshi has done well in the Duleep Trophy as well, and expect him to continue doing the destructive job with the bat against Afghanistan as well.
