India’s T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer heaped praise on star bowler Jasprit Bumrah as the star pacer made his India return following an injury layoff. The Men in Blue are locking horns with Afghanistan in one-of-its-kind
T20I series, where the neighbours are hosting the Iyer-led side at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. In the opening game, Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl first. Speaking about Bumrah’s comeback in the team, he said that it is a luxury to have him around. Notably, the star bowler was out with a left-knee injury. He was named in the three-match T20I series, but was required to undergo a fitness test.
Let the Friendship Cup begin in New Delhi 🇮🇳🇦🇫
📸 Special scenes ahead of the toss as a commemorative memento is unveiled and #TeamIndia Captain @ShreyasIyer15 presents a signed jersey to Afghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran to commence the #AFGvIND series 🤝 pic.twitter.com/sctNcPIM5t
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 13, 2026
Speaking about Bumrah during the toss, the Indian skipper also called him a match winner. He said, “I think it’s a luxury to have him in the squad because he’s immensely experienced and he carries a lot of great attitude when it comes to winning matches. So, we know he’s a match winner and we know what he’s got to offer.” For the unversed, Bumrah sustained an impact injury to his left knee while fielding during the second ODI against England this July.
The issue caused swelling, forcing him to miss the third ODI as well as ruled him out of India’s two-game Test series against Sri Lanka.
Shreyas Iyer Reflects on T20I Captaincy; Calls it a Roller-Coaster Ride
Apart from having Bumrah back, Iyer also reflected on his journey as India’s T20I skipper thus far. Notably,Iyer replaced 2026 World Cup winning captain Suryakumar Yadav at the helm of the T20I squad in June 2026. This not only marked his comeback to India colours after significant time but a beginning of another chapter in his international career. However, it didn’t go as expected. Contrary to his and everyone’s expectations, Iyer went on to create an unwanted record of having five T20I games without a win.
Speaking about the same, Iyer said, “It’s been a roller coaster ride, but if you see the previous series which we played against Zimbabwe, there were a lot of positives and the boys were optimistic in their approach. So, that’s the attitude we’ve got to carry in this series as well.”
Coming back to the squads, this is how playing XI for both India and Afghanistan look like for 1st T20I-
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Ibrahim Zadran(c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi
India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy
