The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Afghanistan will host India in a three-match Twenty20 international series in New Delhi from Sept. 13-17, the Afghanistan Cricket Board said Wednesday.
All three matches will be played at the Arun Jaitley Cricket
Stadium, with games scheduled for Sept. 13, 15 and 17. The series is part of
Afghanistan’s Future Tours Program.
Although the matches will be played in India, Afghanistan
will be the designated host. The Afghan team has regularly played its home
fixtures outside the country in recent years, including in India and the United
Arab Emirates, because of security concerns following the Taliban takeover in
2021.
The two teams most recently met in June, when India hosted
Afghanistan for a Test and a three-match ODI series. They also played a
three-match T20 series in January 2024.
Afghanistan Cricket Board Chairman Mirwais Ashraf said the
series was an important milestone in the board’s relationship with the Board of
Control for Cricket in India.
“Hosting India for a bilateral series in India is a
significant milestone for us,” Ashraf said, adding that the series could create
opportunities in commercial, technical and cricketing areas.
BCCI President Mithun Manhas said the Indian cricket board
remained committed to supporting the development of cricket in Afghanistan and
providing Afghan players opportunities to compete against high-quality
opposition.
“We welcome the Afghanistan Cricket Board to India for this
series and look forward to working closely with them to make it a successful
one,” Manhas said.
BCCI Honorary Secretary Devajit Saikia said the series would
complete the bilateral cricketing engagements between the two countries across
all three formats.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board said the series will also have
commercial partnerships, with e& as the title sponsor and Super Cola
Beverages Manufacturing Company as the “Powered By” sponsor.
The event will be branded as the “E& Afghanistan vs
India T20I Series 2026, powered by Super Cola.” Other commercial partners include
Vany, TG (TransGroup), TPT360 and FanCode.
