India captain Shreyas Iyer praised his bowling unit’s collective effort after the team secured a clinical seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in the first T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.
India restricted Afghanistan to 156/8 before chasing down the target in just 13.4 overs. Iyer highlighted the impact of returning pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz early and helped set the tone for India’s bowlers. He also praised Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy for maintaining pressure through the middle overs. Defending the decision to hand Shivam Dube the final over, Iyer said the all-rounder had little time to assess the wicket and pace conditions. Iyer also lauded Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan for their 121-run partnership.
Abhishek smashed 82 off 32 balls, while Kishan scored 42. Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran admitted his side failed to build partnerships and called his run-out by Kishan a turning point that shifted momentum decisively towards India.