Why India play as ‘away’ team in Delhi for Afghanistan T20I series: Explained

India captain Shreyas Iyer (right) and Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran unveil the Friendship Cup trophy ahead of the first cricket match of the T20I series in New Delhi. (PTI photo) India will begin their three-match T20I series against Afghanistan with the first match on Sunday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. While the match is played in India, the series is officially a home series for Afghanistan.The Afghanistan Cricket Board is hosting all three T20Is in Delhi, with the remaining two matches also scheduled at the same venue. Both teams are using the series to prepare for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

Why India is the visiting team in Delhi

Even though the matches are being played in Delhi, India will take the field as the visiting team as Afghanistan are the designated hosts of the series.Due to security reasons, Afghanistan cannot host international matches in their country. Due to this, they play their home matches in India or the United Arab Emirates. Afghanistan have hosted other international teams in India before but this is the first time they are hosting India on Indian soil.It will also be a first for Indian cricket. In the 94-year history of Indian cricket, this is the first time that India will play a match at home without being the home team.

The Afghanistan captain tosses a coin

Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran will be the home side tossing the coin before the match, while India captain Shreyas Iyer will be calling heads or tails.

India use outdoor locker room

The Arun Jaitley Stadium has separate dressing rooms for home and visiting teams. For this series, Afghanistan will use the home dressing room while India will use the visiting dressing room.The series also gives the Afghanistan Cricket Board an opportunity to earn revenue from broadcasting rights, ticket sales and commercial rights at stadiums through a ‘home away from home’ series in India.