India returned to T20I cricket with a dominant seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in the series opener on Sunday. But captain Shreyas Iyer will have one major issue to address — the lack of a reliable fifth bowling option in the absence of the injured Hardik Pandya.
India look to seal series
India ticked most boxes in the opening game, with Arshdeep Singh and Abhishek Sharma playing starring roles.
Arshdeep produced an excellent spell of 3/19 to restrict Afghanistan to 156/8, while Abhishek smashed 82 off 32 balls to help India complete the chase in just 13.4 overs.
Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy also made successful returns from injury.
India will now look to finish the series in the second T20I before turning their attention to the Asian Games campaign later this week.
Fifth-bowler issue remains
The biggest concern for India is the fifth bowling option.
Iyer struggled to find a reliable solution in the first game, with batting all-rounders Shivam Dube and Nitish Kumar Reddy unable to make a big impact with the ball.
Reddy conceded 30 runs in his two overs, while Dube gave away 21 runs after bowling the final over. Abhishek also bowled one over.
The three combined to concede 59 runs in four overs.
India’s specialist bowlers — Arshdeep, Bumrah, Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy — did most of the damage, meaning Afghanistan were never able to put the Indian team under serious pressure.
However, Iyer would want a more settled option before India begin their Asian Games campaign.
Teams
India: Sheryas Iyer (captain), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryvanshi, Yash Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi.
Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (captain), Darwish Rasooli, Noor ul Rahman, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Nangeliya Kharote, Abdollah Amhedzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmed.
