17 September,2026 10:08 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Ibrahim Zadran (Pic: X/@ICC)
In the third T20I match against Team India, Afghanistan's skipper Ibrahim Zadran has won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
After winning the toss, Afghanistan's skipper Zadran said, "We are going to bowl first. We wanted to bowl first in the last two games as well, but unfortunately, we lost the toss. If you look at the wicket, it's quite supportive for the bowlers, and I'm sure we will execute our plans well in the bowling department. We will try to put pressure on them and not allow them to put a big score on the board. [What's the team's mindset after the series defeat?] We have lost the series, but we thought about the areas we need to work on and what we haven't done well in the last two games. We will try to play better cricket and win a game against them to finish well. And yes, India are one of the best teams. They have, I would say, all the departments covered in T20 cricket, but we always try to make things easy for ourselves and not complicate them. We just try to give 100 per cent and play better cricket against them. [Any changes?] Yes, we have got two changes. Gulbadin Naib and Noor Ahmad are not playing. Abdullah Ahmadzai and Noor ul Rahman are in".
The Afghans have made two changes to their playing XI. Noor ul Rahman will come in place of Noor Ahmad, and Abdollah Ahmadzai will replace Gulbadin Naib.
On the other hand, the "Men in Blue" will enter the clash with just one change. Arshdeep Singh will make way for Yash Thakur.
Team India's captain Shreyas Iyer said, "(You lost the toss. What would you have chosen)? We would have definitely batted first as well. I interacted with him. I knew what he would do. (Is this a good test against a side that has won the series )? Yes, absolutely, and it also gives us a fun challenge to bat here to the best of our abilities. And also, we spoke about this at the end of the last match, that they ease nicely into this role. (What have you told the team ahead of this game )? See, there is no room for complacency. It's important that we stick to the moment and see to it that we are basically backing our instincts and not complicating things. Obviously, we are batting first. That doesn't mean that we are going to go completely berserk. We need to adapt. We need to see to it that we are getting acclimatized to the situation as well. So yeah, good challenge, looking forward to it. (Any changes to your side tonight )? One change - Yash Thakur comes in place of Arshdeep".
India: Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Thakur.
Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Noor ul Rahman, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazlhaq Farooqi.
