Series confirmed in Delhi ahead of Asian Games

The Afghanistan Cricket Board and the Board of Control for Cricket in India have confirmed that Afghanistan will host India in a three-match T20I series at the Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium in Delhi from 13 to 17 September 2026.

The series will get underway on 13 September, with the second T20I scheduled for 15 September and the third on 17 September. All three matches will be played at the same venue.

The series is part of Afghanistan’s Future Tours Programme and will be played in India, with Afghanistan hosting its home fixtures at neutral venues as in recent years. The BCCI has formally approved the schedule.

It will be only the second bilateral T20I contest between India and Afghanistan. The two teams last met in a three-match series in January 2024, when India hosted Afghanistan in Mohali, Indore and Bengaluru. India won the series.

Asian Games build-up

The upcoming contest comes at an important stage for India’s T20I side, which has endured a difficult run under captain Shreyas Iyer. India began the recent stretch with a 2-0 series defeat against Ireland before suffering a 4-0 loss against England in the following series. The team managed to halt that slide with a 3-0 victory over Zimbabwe in the recently concluded T20I series.

The series will also serve as useful preparation for the players selected in India’s Asian Games squad. The 2026 Asian Games in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, will take place from 19 September to 4 October. The men’s cricket competition will be played in the T20 format, with the competition beginning on 24 September and the final scheduled for 3 October. Ten teams – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Japan, Nepal, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Oman – will compete for the gold medal.

India have already announced their T20 squad for the Asian Games. The squad is: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vice-capt), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Jasprit Bumrah. It is most likely that the squad for the Afghanistan series will also be quite similar.

Broadcast rights and schedule request

Sony Sports Network has bagged the television rights for India’s three-match T20I series against Afghanistan. The ITW Universe, which holds the global rights of the matches, has allotted the property to Sony after deliberations with other players in the field: JioStar and Zee Unite8. A top official of ITW Universe confirmed the decision. The digital rights of the matches are with FanCode.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board is the host of the three matches to be played at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on 13, 15 and 17 September.

Meanwhile, requests have gone to Naseeb Khan, the CEO of Afghanistan Cricket Board, to adjust the games so that one match can be played on 14 September, the day of Ganesh Chaturthi. Cricbuzz had reported about this on 11 August.

"As a media rights and production partner deeply invested in the success of this series, ITW Universe respectfully requests the ACB to consider a modest but meaningful adjustment to the current schedule so that one of the three matches falls on Monday, 14 September 2026 — Ganesh Chaturthi," ITW founder Bhairav Shanth said in a letter to ACB CEO Naseeb Khan.

He has said ITW’s preferred days of the matches are Friday (11 September), Sunday (13 September) and Monday (14 September - Ganesh Chaturthi). The alternative dates, he said, are 13 September, 14 September, and either 16 or 17 September.

"Both options preserve a tight three-match window and require only a modest shift from the currently confirmed dates," he wrote in his letter.

"Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most widely observed and emotionally significant festivals in India — a day of new beginnings, devotion and collective celebration. By offering to stage a match on this date, the Afghanistan Cricket Board would be making a thoughtful and gracious gesture that goes beyond the playing field. It would demonstrate respect for Indian culture and the sentiments of Indian cricket lovers, and reinforce the spirit of goodwill that underpins the BCCI–ACB relationship," Shanth further said.

The Afghanistan vs India T20I series will be broadcast live across mobile, web and connected TVs on FanCode, which has acquired the exclusive digital rights for the three-match series.