For the first time, Afghanistan will host India in an international series. Starting on September 13, the three-match Twenty20 International series will take place at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Afghanistan recently travelled to India for three ODI matches and one Test match, but they lost all of them against the Men in Blue. But the Afghanistan team is particularly strong in the T20I format. Despite being a format dominated by batters, Afghanistan and India’s bowlers will also face off for the claim to be the best ones in the format. Let’s check out the five bowlers to watch out for in the upcoming T20Is.
Here are the 5 bowlers to watch out for in the AFG vs. IND T20I series:
5. Naveen Ul Haq
Naveen-ul-Haq will be back in action for Afghanistan in the India T20Is. He is returning after some time away due to injury and has very good numbers in T20Is, with 67 wickets in 48 games, with a best of 4/20. He has retired from ODIs and only plays T20Is and domestic T20 leagues but has experience playing in Delhi in the IPL. This will be extremely useful for Afghanistan for containing Indian batters.
4. Varun Chakaravarthy
Varun Chakaravarthy has been out of action with a foot injury since the IPL 2026 ended. Chakaravarthy has been named in the Indian squad for the Asian Games 2026 on the expectation that he will be fit by that time. Varun has had the upper hand again with Afghan players in the IPL and expects them to do the same thing in the upcoming T20Is, if they are selected.
3. Azmatullah Omarzai
Azmatullah Omarzai has transitioned from a proper all-rounder to an opening bowler for Afghanistan. He has done the job in ODIs, as seen in recent series in India, and has done justice with the bat as well. He is a true batter and a proper bowler and has the ability to touch the high 140 kph speeds and can bowl a mean yorker and slower balls.
2. Jasprit Bumrah
Expect Jasprit Bumrah to be back in action for the Afghanistan series. He missed the Ireland and England tour and the recent Sri Lanka Test series due to his back issues. Bumrah is a must-have bowler in T20Is for India, and he has also been named in the Asian Games 2026 squad as well. Bumrah needs some game time before that event, and what better way than to play at least two games in Delhi against Afghanistan?
1. Rashid Khan
Premier bowler in T20Is and former Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan has 193 wickets in 115 games in the format with a best bowling of 5/3 and an economy of 6.04. Rashid also has 736 wickets in 547 T20 games, and no one bowls better in the format than him. Rashid Khan will be licking his lips at bowling on spin-friendly pitches in Delhi. Expect him to wreak havoc on Indian batters with the ball and produce an exciting contest.
