India vs Afghanistan, 1st T20I: No Sooryavanshi as Sanju Samson returns to XI

Sanju Samson won the battle for India’s opening position alongside Abhishek Sharma as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was left out of the XI for the first T20I against Afghanistan in Delhi on Sunday. India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected the first bowler at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Jasprit Bumrah has also returned to the T20I side and will play under Iyer’s captaincy for the first time.

Abhishek Sharma and Sooryavanshi opened for India in the team’s last T20I series against Zimbabwe, with Samson rested for the task. All three batsmen also featured in India’s previous series against England.

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“We will go bowling first, which is generally what happens in T20 cricket. Having played in Delhi, you know what the pitch has to offer and we have played quite a few matches here. So based on that and looking at the conditions, it’s really a reason,” Iyer said after the draw.

Abhishek has been India’s standout T20I batter in the last two years. He has the highest strike rate among players with at least 500 T20I runs, scoring 187.24 in 55 innings. He also hit two centuries and 11 fifties. His place at the top of the order was never in doubt, but Samson and Sooryavanshi were vying for second place.

Sooryavanshi has made a strong start to his international career, hitting 189.21 in six T20I innings. However, the 15-year-old struggled against England’s short-handed bowling in his debut series in July, scoring 14, 13 and 15. Samson, meanwhile, was prominent at the Arun Jaitley Stadium ahead of the match, with wicket bat banners dotted around the ground.

India seem to have stuck with the combination they agreed on in England where Sooryavanshi was dropped for the series finale. Samson was not selected for the tour of Zimbabwe but returned to the XI in Delhi. On the eve of the match, Iyer admitted that picking the top order was difficult.

Injury scare for Ishan Kishan could also influence the decision. The wicket-keeper batsman suffered a back sprain during Friday night’s training session, while Iyer acknowledged the Duleep Trophy-winning captain was tired after playing the final of the red-ball competition in Chennai last week.

With Ishan not holding and Samson donning the gloves, the call could have been easier for Iyer and coach Gautam Gambhir.

Samson was a key part of India’s T20 World Cup winning campaign in March, scoring 97 not out, 89 and 89 in his three innings. He then moved to Chennai Super Kings for the IPL and finished with 477 runs, including two centuries.

Iyer said India’s positive attitude from the Zimbabwe series will be important when they begin the Afghanistan series.

“It’s been a roller-coaster ride but if you look at the previous series we played against Zimbabwe, there were a lot of positives and the guys were upbeat in their approach. So that’s the attitude we have to carry into this series as well,” he said.

On Bumrah, Iyer added, “I think it’s a luxury to have him in the squad because he’s hugely experienced and has a great attitude when it comes to winning matches. So we know he’s a match winner and we know what he can offer.”

India Playing XI: Sanju Samson(f), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Afghanistan Playing XI: Ibrahim Zadran (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (w), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi

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Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

13 Sep 2026 19:18 IST