Abhishek Sharma’s 82 off 32 sets up a seven-wicket win over Afghanistan

India beat Afghanistan by seven wickets with 38 balls unused in the first T20I of a three-match series at Arun Jaitley Stadium on 13 September. Afghanistan, the designated home side for the tour, were asked to bat and finished 156 for 8. India reached 157 for 3 in 13.4 overs.

Abhishek Sharma made 82 from 32 balls, with seven fours and seven sixes, and was named player of the match. He reached fifty off 22 balls, his 12th T20I half-century. Ishan Kishan made 42 off 33. The pair added 121 off 53 balls for the second wicket after Sanju Samson fell for 10, caught off Azmatullah Omarzai. Mohammad Nabi then removed both Sharma and Kishan. Captain Shreyas Iyer, eight not out, and Tilak Varma, three not out, finished the chase.

The first half of the Afghan innings had almost ended the contest early. India were 82 for 1 in the powerplay. Afghanistan had been 43 for 5 in the seventh over. Jasprit Bumrah, back from injury, made the ball lift from a length to have Rahmanullah Gurbaz fend to slip. Arshdeep Singh took 3 for 19 in four overs. Varun Chakravarthy, also returning from injury, went for 16 off his overs and took a wicket. Axar Patel took 1 for 27. Bumrah finished with 1 for 26.

Omarzai held the innings together with 64 not out off 44. Nabi made 33. That stand, and the late hitting, took Afghanistan from a collapse to a total that would have asked questions of a weaker chase. It did not ask enough of this one. Fazalhaq Farooqi went for 38 off two overs. Rashid Khan bowled 3.4 overs for 34 without a wicket.

The result ends a lean away stretch. India had gone through a winless run in Ireland and England two months earlier. This was the first home T20I of the new block, even though Afghanistan are listed as the home team in the series paperwork. Iyer won the toss and bowled. The pitch and the evening dew then did what Delhi pitches in September often do for a side chasing 157 with Abhishek in this form.

India’s XI mixed the new leadership with the old attack. Samson kept wicket. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shivam Dube waited unused. The bowling plan was simple: Bumrah and Arshdeep at the stumps, Chakravarthy and Axar at the hitting lengths, no experiment that a first match of a short series did not need.

The second T20I is at the same ground on Tuesday, 15 September, the third on Thursday. Afghanistan have to decide whether Omarzai bats higher after a 43 for 5 hole, and whether Farooqi can be trusted with the new ball if Abhishek walks out again. India have a 1-0 lead and a bowling unit that looked fit. The only unfinished business from the first night is whether Bumrah’s workload is managed across three games in six days, or whether Tuesday becomes a rest and a different new-ball pair.