India completed a dominant 3-0 T20I series sweep over Afghanistan with a commanding 127-run victory in the third and final match in New Delhi on 17 September 2026. Abhishek Sharma played with the bat and Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ravi Bishnoi with the ball.
Abhishek Sharma Creates History
Abhishek Sharma played one of the most explosive innings of his T20I career, hitting a century in 30 balls. The score made him the fastest Indian to score a T20I hundred, breaking Rohit Sharma's previous Indian record of 35 balls.
Abhishek eventually fell for 108 off 34 deliveries, with nine fours and 11 sixes in his innings. His century was also the fastest T20I hundred by a batter from a full ICC member at the time of the match, and the two faster overall hundreds came from associate-nation players.
The left-hander’s century was particularly significant because it came after scores of 82 and 39 in the first two matches. He finished the series with such a good momentum.
India Post 221 Despite Late Wickets
India was invited to bat first and made full use of the opportunity. Abhishek and Sanju Samson launched the innings aggressively, putting together a 142-run opening partnership.
Samson contributed another half-century with 50, while India crossed 100 in the first six overs. However, Afghanistan fought back after Abhishek’s dismissal and restricted India’s scoring during the closing overs.
India finally ended on 221/7 in 20 overs, setting Afghanistan a daunting target of 222.
Indian Captain Shreyas Iyer invited Afghanistan Captain Ibrahim Zadran to join the winning team group picture post match. #AFGvIND #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/UnMJLbBhcJ
— Raj Zambre (@Raj30453) September 18, 2026
Nitish Reddy and Bishnoi Destroy Afghanistan's Chase
Afghanistan’s response never developed into a serious challenge. Axar Patel struck twice early, and Jasprit Bumrah and Yash Thakur followed with further pressure.
Nitish Kumar Reddy had a brilliant spell in which he took three wickets for 25 runs. Ravi Bishnoi also took 3/26 as India’s bowling attack kept taking wickets at regular intervals.
Afghanistan was eventually bowled out for 94 in 14.1 overs, giving India a massive 127-run victory.
What is next for Team India?
The Afghanistan series has provided India with some valuable T20 preparation time but the team doesn’t have much time for the squad to rest. The teams will now go to Japan for the men's cricket tournament at the Asian Games.
India also will play a historic one-off T20I against Japan on September 22 before their Asian Games campaign.
A few more games and Abhishek Sharma will have to play to justify his record score. If he can score fast from the top of the order, he will be crucial to India in T20.
Nitish Kumar Reddy’s all-round contribution is another good takeaway. His three-wicket performance in the final stage of the series showed India’s depth of bowling, and Bishnoi’s consistency added another spin option.
