India and Afghanistan meet again in Delhi with the Friendship Cup at 1-0

India and Afghanistan play the second T20I of the Friendship Cup at Arun Jaitley Stadium on 15 September. Start time is 7:30 p.m. IST. The toss is due around 7 p.m. India lead 1-0 after the opener on 13 September, when Afghanistan made 156 for 8 and India chased 157 in 13.4 overs. Abhishek Sharma hit 82 off 32. Arshdeep Singh took 3 for 19. Azmatullah Omarzai was unbeaten on 64 after Afghanistan slipped to 43 for 5.

Afghanistan are listed as official hosts for the T20 leg even though every match is in Delhi. The third game is on 17 September at the same ground. A second India win tonight ends the series. A loss leaves Thursday as the decider.

India captain Shreyas Iyer has little reason to tear up the eleven. Harshit Rana was ruled out on 10 September with a strain and replaced in the squad by Yash Thakur. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is the unused young bat on the bench. The likely top order is some mix of Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, then Iyer, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Axar Patel, with Arshdeep, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi Bishnoi or Varun Chakravarthy for the ball.

Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran has more to change. Naveen-ul-Haq is back in the squad after injury and was not used in the first match. Fazalhaq Farooqi and the wrist-spin pair of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad did not have enough runs to defend. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Zadran need a start. Omarzai cannot rescue 43 for 5 every night.

The broadcast in India is on Sony Sports Ten 5, with streaming on FanCode. Afghan umpires Ahmed Shah Durrani and Izatullah Safi stand in this game. The series is T20I number 4105 on the list.

Delhi in mid-September still holds heat in the evening. Dew later in the second innings is the usual local factor. India used it on Saturday. Afghanistan have one day to decide whether they want an extra seamer for the new ball or another batter to protect Rashid.

The wider frame is thin and still real. Afghanistan cannot play home internationals in Kabul. India is staging the games and selling them as a friendship series. The cricket on Saturday was one-sided. Tuesday is the night Zadran's side either stays in the series or spends Thursday playing for pride.