{"id":262804,"date":"2026-09-15T21:40:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T21:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/15\/3-things-india-did-right-in-the-2nd-afg-vs-ind-2026-t20i-ft-sanju-samson\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T21:40:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T21:40:49","slug":"3-things-india-did-right-in-the-2nd-afg-vs-ind-2026-t20i-ft-sanju-samson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/15\/3-things-india-did-right-in-the-2nd-afg-vs-ind-2026-t20i-ft-sanju-samson\/","title":{"rendered":"3 things India did right in the 2nd AFG vs IND 2026 T20I ft. Sanju Samson"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5217775\" data-slug-id=\"2836973\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Team India hammered Afghanistan by seven wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday, September 15 in the second T20I of the three-match series. With the victory, the Men in Blue took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.<\/p>\n<p>Bowling first after winning the toss, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/team\/india-national-cricket-team\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">India<\/a> held Afghanistan to 159-8 as Nitish Kumar Reddy claimed 3-24, while Arshdeep Singh picked up 2-35. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah and spinners Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi chipped in with one scalp each.<\/p>\n<p>Chasing 160, Team India got over the line in just 14.5 overs as Sanju Samson top-scored with 57 off 22, while Abhishek Sharma (39 off 19) and Ishan Kishan (38* off 23) also chipped in with handy contributions.<\/p>\n<p>Team India hardly put a foot wrong as they cruised to victory in Delhi on Tuesday. On that note, let&#8217;s take a look at three things the Men in Blue did right in the second <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/live-cricket-score\/afghanistan-vs-india-2nd-match-15-september-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">T20I<\/a> against Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>#1 Nitish Kumar Reddy made a big impact as India&#8217;s fifth bowling option     <\/h2>\n<p>In Hardik Pandya&#8217;s extended absence due to injury and fitness issues, the fifth bowler has been a massive cause of concern for India in the limited overs formats. India have tried to groom Reddy in the role, but he too has had his fair share of battles with injuries in a short career.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, though, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/nitish-kumar-reddy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Reddy<\/a> made a major impact as India&#8217;s fifth bowling option in the second T20I against Afghanistan. Reddy bowled three overs and registered impressive figures of 3-24. He made an early impression with the ball, sending back Ibrahim Zadran with a seam-up delivery.<\/p>\n<p>Reddy also dismissed Gulbadin Naib with a length ball that the Afghanistan batter top-edged straight up. Samson ended up taking an excellent skier. The right-arm pacer then sent back the dangerous Rashid Khan with a slower ball outside off. Axar took another great catch at deep square leg to give Reddy his third wicket.<\/p>\n<p>While it&#8217;s too early to make a judgement after just one good performance, the Indian team management will be extremely pleased with Reddy&#8217;s effort on Tuesday and will definitely hope for more such bowling performances from him. With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/shivam-dubey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Shivam Dube<\/a> struggling for consistency with the ball, Team India desperately need Reddy to lift his bowling level a few notches higher.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>#2 Sanju Samson&#8217;s statement knock             <\/h2>\n<p>Having perished for a low score in the first T20I against Afghanistan, the pressure was back on Samson to prove that he deserves his place in the playing XI. After all, he was being picked ahead of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who delivered a Player of the Series-winning performance in India&#8217;s previous T20I assignment against Zimbabwe in Harare.<\/p>\n<p>Although <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/sanju-samson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Samson<\/a> had starred in Team India&#8217;s T20 World Cup triumph at home earlier this year, he had not been among the runs in recent T20Is. Following his 89 in the T20 World Cup 2026 final against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, Samson had registered scores of 5, 0, 1, 27 &amp; 10 in his next five innings. <\/p>\n<p>Ahead of the second T20I against Afghanistan on Tuesday, many critics and fans had backed Sooryavanshi to make a comeback into the playing XI. However, the Indian team management backed Samson, who made a big statement by slamming 57 off 22 balls. The right-handed batter&#8217;s blazing knock featured seven fours and four sixes, enough to shut his critics for now.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>#3 Bumrah set the tone of the match with a maiden     <\/h2>\n<p>Very rarely do you see a maiden over in T20I cricket. But expect Jasprit Bumrah to achieve the rarest of rare feats. The right-arm pacer got proceedings underway with a brilliant first over, which ended up being a maiden. Although Bumrah did not pick up a wicket, by bowling six dot deliveries, he gave India a near-perfect start.     <\/p>\n<p>Afghanistan opener and skipper Zadran just could not find a way to get off the mark in Bumrah&#8217;s first over. The maiden over played out by him put additional pressure on Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The keeper-batter fell in the second over bowled by Arshdeep, miscuing one to mid-on.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Renin Wilben Albert<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/cricket\/3-things-india-right-2nd-afg-vs-ind-2026-t20i-ft-sanju-samson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Team India hammered Afghanistan by seven wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday, September 15 in the second T20I of the three-match series. With the victory, the Men in Blue took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Bowling first after winning the toss, India held Afghanistan to 159-8 as Nitish Kumar [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":262805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-262804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}