1st T20I: Bumrah Back In The Mix As Afghanistan Prepare To ‘host’ India In India (preview)

By Pramit Meher

**Bumrah Returns as Afghanistan Stage First-Ever "Home" Series vs India** The injury worry is over—Jasprince Bumrah looked sharp in the nets, bowling a lovely yorker past Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after that IPL tiff. He's back after missing the 3rd ODI vs England and both Sri Lanka Tests with a left knee impact injury while fielding in Cardiff. Didn't look like a man nursing a knee—more like a pro finding his groove again. Now the bigger story: for years, Afghanistan's "home" grounds were in India (Greater Noida, Dehradun, Lucknow) since they lacked infrastructure back home. Their first Test 6 yrs ago was in Bengaluru vs India. But on Sun, it flips—Afghanistan officially host India for the first time in a bilateral, playing at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. **Why Afghanistan win big here:** They know these grounds cold. Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Rahmanullah Gurbaz lit up Indian stadiums during IPL summers. Under new captain Ibrahim Zadran and coach Richard Pybus, they're rebuilding after an early T20 WC exit. Strong spin battery (Rashid, Nabi, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb) that can unravel any batting lineup, plus Ibrahim Zadran, Gurbaz and Sediqullah Atal to exploit the short square boundaries. **India's concerns:** Aggressive, deep batting order but the top order is unresolved—Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Sooryavanshi can't all fit. India have lost 6 of 10 T20Is this year since Shreyas Iyer took charge. Ishan Kishan looked fluent vs spin (Duleep Trophy 200+) but has a back issue—availability doubtful. Good news: Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy back, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy added. India near full strength after injury spate. **Match Info:** 📅 When: Sun, Sep 13, 7:30 PM IST 📍 Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi 📺 Watch: Sony Sports Ten 3/4/5 | FanCode app As the piece says—nobody did Afghanistan any kindness. They earned this through relentless work and big-stage performances. Now they host the current T20 WC holders in all but name. *Source: IANS* Source: Cricketnmore