Cricket has produced plenty of long-running contests, but the india national cricket team vs afghanistan national cricket team story is a different kind. It is younger, sharper and full of moments that nobody saw coming. The Afghanistan national cricket team only played its first Test in 2018, and the opponent that day was India. Since then, ind vs afg cricket has delivered a tied ODI, a double Super Over, a Rohit Sharma hundred at a World Cup and a Kohli century that ended a long wait. It has also produced two Asian Games meetings that rain decided before a winner was found.
This piece walks through the complete india vs afghanistan story: how the two sides first met, how the balance has held over the years, and where things stand on September 28, 2026, after a match abandoned without toss at the Asian Games in Japan. Along the way it covers the numbers, the key players, the Asian Games cricket schedule, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and the best places to follow the action.
The First Chapter: Afghanistan Arrives on the Big Stage
The india vs afghanistan timeline begins with Afghanistan’s rise from associate cricket. The Afghanistan national cricket team qualified for the 2010 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, and it was the first time most of the world saw them on a global stage. India were one of the sides they faced, and India won that meeting comfortably, as most people expected.
The result did not tell the whole story. Afghan cricket had grown up in refugee camps and on dusty grounds across the border, and the team had climbed the associate ladder faster than almost anyone. What they lacked was regular cricket against the top sides. Full Member status from the ICC in 2017 changed that, and the ind vs afg fixtures that followed were a direct result.
A few things shaped the early years of this contest:
- Afghanistan used Indian grounds such as Greater Noida and Dehradun as home venues when they could not host matches at home
- Afghan players became IPL regulars, so both sides knew each other’s games well
- The BCCI’s support for Afghan cricket gave the relationship a warmth that few rivalries have
That background matters. When people talk about india vs afghanistan cricket, the competition is real, but there is a shared story running underneath it.
2018: The Year the Rivalry Became Real
If one year turned this from a curiosity into a proper rivalry, it was 2018. Two very different matches, three months apart, showed what the contest could be.
The Bengaluru Test
In June 2018, the Afghanistan national cricket team played its first-ever Test at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, with India as the opposition. It was a day of firsts for Afghan cricket, and the match itself was one-sided. Shikhar Dhawan scored a hundred before lunch on day one and Murali Vijay made a century too. Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma then dismissed Afghanistan twice inside two days. India won by an innings and 262 runs.
Nobody expected a debutant to compete with India in Test cricket that early, and the scoreline reflected that. The Test still mattered because it put Afghanistan on the longest stage the game offers.
The Dubai Tie
At the Asia Cup in September 2018, India played Afghanistan in a Super Four game in Dubai. Mohammad Shahzad scored a fine century for Afghanistan, and India were left needing seven off the final over with one wicket in hand. They scored six off the first four balls to level the scores, but Rashid Khan got Ravindra Jadeja on the fifth ball and India were bowled out for 252, leaving the match tied. It was the first tie in Asia Cup history and the first tied ODI Afghanistan had played.
For a team barely a year into Full Member status, holding India level in a knife-edge finish was a statement. It remains the only ODI in the india vs afghanistan matches list that India did not win.
2019 World Cup: A Scare at Southampton
At the 2019 World Cup, the ind vs afg game at Southampton turned into a much closer contest than the paper suggested. India posted 224 on a slow surface, and Afghanistan looked capable of chasing it for long stretches. Kohli’s 67 held the Indian innings together, and Kedar Jadhav’s cameo helped India reach a competitive total.
The chase was tight until the end. Jasprit Bumrah bowled beautifully in the middle overs, and Mohammed Shami took a hat-trick in the final over to seal an 11-run win for India. It was one of those results where the scoreboard says one thing and the feel of the match says another. Afghanistan walked off knowing they had pushed a top side close in a World Cup game.
The T20 Years: 2021 and 2022
The shortest format has always suited Afghanistan’s style, with spin, power hitting and fearless cricket. It has also been the format where India have been most dominant in this pairing.
At the 2021 T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi, India beat Afghanistan by 66 runs. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul batted with the freedom the format demands, and the bowlers took care of the rest.
Kohli’s Century in Dubai
The 2022 Asia Cup gave the contest its most talked-about individual innings. At Dubai in September, Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 122 off 61 balls. It was his first T20I century, his 71st in international cricket, and it ended a long wait for a hundred in any format. India scored 212 for 2 and won by 101 runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar took five wickets for four runs in the same game.
That match is a good example of what a big ind vs afg night can look like. Nobody at the ground was thinking about the margin by the end. They were watching a batsman play the way he did when he first arrived.
2023: World Cup Delhi and the Asian Games
Rohit’s Night at the Kotla
The 2023 ODI World Cup match at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium was the most one-sided ODI in the history of india vs afghanistan cricket, and one of the most memorable. Afghanistan made 272 for 8, with Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai contributing. India chased it down in 35 overs for the loss of two wickets. Rohit Sharma scored 131 off 84 balls, which was the fastest Indian World Cup hundred at the time, and Kohli finished the chase alongside Shreyas Iyer. Bumrah had earlier taken four wickets to keep Afghanistan under control.
The match also carried a warm moment. Kohli met Afghan players after the game, including Naveen-ul-Haq, and the two shook hands and hugged after their earlier IPL spat.
The Hangzhou Final That Rain Decided
Later that year, Asian Games cricket returned after a long gap, and India sent a young side to Hangzhou. They reached the gold medal match against Afghanistan after beating Bangladesh in the semi-final, while Afghanistan had beaten Pakistan. Rain stopped the final, and under the tournament rules the better-ranked side took the gold. That was India, and Afghanistan settled for silver.
That is why what happened this week in Japan feels so familiar. More on that below.
2024: A Series to Remember
The January 2024 T20I series in India was short but full of drama. India won 3-0, and the numbers hide how close the matches were.
- Mohali: India won by six wickets on a cold night, with Shivam Dube making an impact with bat and ball
- Indore: India won by six wickets again, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dube setting up a quick chase
- Bengaluru: The third match went to two Super Overs
The Bengaluru game is the one people remember. Rohit Sharma scored an unbeaten 121 and Rinku Singh made 69 not out in a rescue act, and India reached 212. Afghanistan matched that total in the chase. The first Super Over ended level as well, and India finally won the second, with Ravi Bishnoi bowling the decisive over.
The Barbados Super 8
In June 2024, the two sides met again at the T20 World Cup in Barbados. Suryakumar Yadav scored a fifty to lift India to 181, and Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav shared the wickets in a 47-run win. Afghanistan went on to reach the semi-final in that tournament, which shows how dangerous a side they had become even when losing to India.
2026: India Sweep Afghanistan at Home
The June 2026 tour saw Afghanistan visit India for one Test and three ODIs. It went India’s way in every game. India won the one-match Test series 1-0 and the three-match ODI series 3-0.
The Test at New Chandigarh
The Test was the first ever played at the New Chandigarh venue. India batted first and declared on 564 for 8, then bowled Afghanistan out for 152 and 112 in the follow-on, winning by an innings and 300 runs. It was Afghanistan’s heaviest innings defeat in Test cricket. Shubman Gill led the batting, and left-arm spinner Manav Suthar took seven wickets in the match.
The ODI Series
The ODI leg was where Afghanistan showed real fight, even though the results did not change.
- 1st ODI, Dharamsala: Rain reduced the game to 25 overs a side. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 102 off 51 balls, but the rest of the batters managed only 80 between them, and India chased 195 with seven wickets in hand. Gill’s 84 won him the match award.
- 2nd ODI, Lucknow: India made 402, and Afghanistan were bowled out for 232 in the chase, a 170-run defeat. Ishan Kishan scored a century.
- 3rd ODI, Chennai: Hashmatullah Shahidi made his first ODI century and Afghanistan reached 218, but Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 110 not out and India won by nine wickets with 128 balls to spare. Prasidh Krishna took five wickets for 23 runs.
Gill finished as player of the series with 238 runs. Virat Kohli missed the series with a hamstring injury, and Jaiswal came in as his replacement. The team management used the series to test bench strength ahead of the 2027 World Cup, and Gurnoor Brar, Prince Yadav and Harsh Dubey all got opportunities and used them.
Asian Games 2026 Cricket Schedule and Format
The latest chapter of india vs afghanistan is being written at the Asian Games in Japan. The Asian Games 2026 cricket schedule runs from September 24 to October 3 at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, and both the men’s and women’s events are played in the T20 format. Ten men’s teams are taking part. Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal were in Group A, and the top two sides from each group joined four seeded teams in the knockouts.
The seeded teams were India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which is why India started at the quarter-final stage. Here is how the men’s Asian Games 2026 cricket schedule looks from the knockouts onward:
| Date | Stage | Notes |
| September 28 | Quarter-finals | Pakistan vs Hong Kong, then India vs Afghanistan |
| September 29 | Quarter-finals | Nepal vs Sri Lanka, Bangladesh vs Malaysia |
| October 1 | Semi-finals | India play the winner of Nepal vs Sri Lanka |
| October 3 | Bronze and gold medal matches | Final day of Asian Games cricket |
Fans following Asian Games cricket in India should note that the match times are morning slots in IST, because Japan is ahead of India by three and a half hours. The women’s event has already finished, and India won gold again, beating Sri Lanka in the final.
Match Abandoned Without Toss: The Nisshin Washout
The quarter-final on September 28 never got going. Persistent rain and a damp outfield forced officials to call the match abandoned without toss, 16 minutes before the scheduled start. No ball was bowled.
Under the Asian Games cricket rules, if a knockout match is abandoned, the higher-ranked side in the ICC T20I rankings goes through. India were ranked No. 1 and Afghanistan were 10th, so India advanced to the semi-finals. The first quarter-final between Pakistan and Hong Kong was also abandoned earlier the same day, and Pakistan went through on ranking.
It was the second successive Asian Games in which Afghanistan’s meeting with India ended in a washout. In Hangzhou it happened in the final, and this time it happened in the quarter-final. A match abandoned without toss is rare at this level, but the same rule that gave India gold in 2023 has now kept them alive in 2026.
For the record, an abandoned game does not count as a completed T20I, so the ind vs afg head-to-head does not change because of this result.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: The Name to Watch
One name got a lot of attention before the tournament even started: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The 15-year-old comes into the Asian Games off a remarkable IPL season, and he has recently become the youngest player to play international cricket for India. He is part of the squad that Shreyas Iyer is leading in Japan.
The rain meant Vaibhav Sooryavanshi did not get a chance to face Afghanistan on this occasion. His presence still shows how the fixture has changed. Afghanistan’s spinners such as Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have faced India’s best batters for years, and now they might soon face a teenager who has already impressed in the IPL. If Vaibhav Sooryavanshi plays in the semi-final or final, expect the cameras to follow him closely, and expect Asian Games cricket to be one of his first big stages.
India vs Afghanistan Timeline at a Glance
The full timeline of india vs afghanistan, from the first meeting to the latest, looks like this:
| Year | Event | Format | Result |
| 2010 | T20 World Cup, Caribbean | T20I | India won |
| 2018 | Bengaluru | Test | India won by an innings and 262 runs |
| 2018 | Asia Cup, Dubai | ODI | Match tied |
| 2019 | World Cup, Southampton | ODI | India won by 11 runs |
| 2021 | T20 World Cup, Abu Dhabi | T20I | India won by 66 runs |
| 2022 | Asia Cup, Dubai | T20I | India won by 101 runs |
| 2023 | World Cup, Delhi | ODI | India won by 8 wickets |
| 2023 | Asian Games final, Hangzhou | T20I | Abandoned, India took gold on ranking |
| 2024 | Series in India | T20I | India won 3-0 |
| 2024 | T20 World Cup, Barbados | T20I | India won by 47 runs |
| 2026 | Tour of India | Test and ODI | India won 1-0 in Tests and 3-0 in ODIs |
| 2026 | Asian Games quarter-final, Nisshin | T20I | Abandoned without toss, India advanced |
India National Cricket Team vs Afghanistan National Cricket Team Match Scorecard
Fans often search for an ind vs afg match scorecard to compare the results quickly. Here are the key totals from the biggest games in one place.
| Match | India | Afghanistan | Result |
| Test, Bengaluru 2018 | 474 | 109 and 103 | India by an innings and 262 runs |
| ODI, Dubai 2018 | 252 | 252/8 | Tied |
| ODI, Southampton 2019 | 224/8 | 213 | India by 11 runs |
| T20I, Abu Dhabi 2021 | 210/2 | 144/7 | India by 66 runs |
| T20I, Dubai 2022 | 212/2 | 111/8 | India by 101 runs |
| ODI, Delhi 2023 | 273/2 | 272/8 | India by 8 wickets |
| T20I, Bengaluru 2024 | 212/4 | 212/6 | India won the second Super Over |
| T20I, Barbados 2024 | 181/8 | 134 | India by 47 runs |
| Test, New Chandigarh 2026 | 564/8d | 152 and 112 | India by an innings and 300 runs |
| ODI, Dharamsala 2026 | 195/3 (22.5 ov) | 194 (24.5 ov) | India by 7 wickets |
| ODI, Lucknow 2026 | 402 | 232 | India by 170 runs |
| ODI, Chennai 2026 | 224/1 | 218 | India by 9 wickets |
For a full ball-by-ball india vs afghanistan match scorecard, the official ICC and board pages remain the most reliable source.
India vs Afghanistan Stats and Head-to-Head
The numbers around india vs afghanistan matches are lopsided, but they need context. Here is where the record stands after the 2026 tour.
| Format | Matches | India Wins | Afghanistan Wins | Tied / No Result |
| Tests | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| ODIs | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 tie |
| T20Is | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 no result |
The ODI figure comes from four matches before this year, with India winning three and one ending in a tie, plus the three matches of the June 2026 series. On the T20I side, the two teams had played 12 T20Is before the Nisshin washout, with India winning 11 and one ending without a result.
A few points stand out in the ind vs afg stats:
- Afghanistan have never beaten India in any format
- The closest they came in an ODI was the 2018 tie, and in T20Is it was the second Super Over in Bengaluru
- India’s biggest winning margins have come in Tests, by an innings in both games
- Century-makers on both sides have come in white-ball games, including Kohli, Rohit, Jaiswal, Gurbaz, Shahzad and Shahidi
The india vs afghanistan stats need to be read alongside how young the fixture is. Afghanistan have played India in only two Tests, and the sample is small. The record says India dominate, but the closeness of a handful of games says the gap in the shorter formats is smaller than the win-loss column suggests.
Memorable Moments Worth Remembering
A few matches stand out, even in a rivalry that is still young.
- 2018, Dubai: the first tied ODI between the two sides, decided on the fifth ball of the last over
- 2018, Bengaluru: Afghanistan’s Test debut, with Dhawan’s century before lunch on day one
- 2019, Southampton: Shami’s hat-trick in the final over to save an 11-run win
- 2022, Dubai: Kohli’s first T20I hundred
- 2023, Delhi: Rohit’s 131 in a chase that lasted just 35 overs
- 2024, Bengaluru: two Super Overs and a Rohit hundred
- 2026, New Chandigarh: an innings defeat by 300 runs in the first Test at the venue
- 2026, Nisshin: a second straight Asian Games washout between the same sides
The Players Who Built This Rivalry
Afghanistan’s Key Names
- Rashid Khan: the face of Afghan cricket, whose 2018 Dubai wicket tied the game
- Mohammad Nabi: one of the longest-serving Afghan players, still playing against India in 2026
- Rahmanullah Gurbaz: an aggressive opener with a century in the 2026 series
- Hashmatullah Shahidi: the captain and middle-order anchor, with a century in Chennai
- Mohammad Shahzad: the opener behind the 2018 hundred in Dubai
- Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Noor Ahmad: spinners who grew up in the IPL era
India’s Key Names
- Virat Kohli: Southampton in 2019, the 2022 century, and the 2023 chase
- Rohit Sharma: hundreds in 2023 and 2024, and a fifty in 2026
- Jasprit Bumrah: wickets in 2019, 2023 and 2024
- Shubman Gill: the batting leader of the 2026 home series
- Yashasvi Jaiswal: a century in Chennai on his return to the ODI side
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: the teenager now getting his chance in Asian Games cricket
The fixture also has a personal side. Many Afghan players are IPL regulars, and they have shared dressing rooms with Indian stars. That closeness makes ind vs afg matches feel more like a reunion than a feud.
Why Conditions Have Always Played a Role
Afghanistan’s strength is spin, and they have usually met India on surfaces that suit slower bowling, whether in Dubai, Delhi or Chennai. That helped them in the ODI tie and in the close T20Is. Their pace bowling has struggled against India’s top order, especially on flat pitches, while India’s batters have usually dealt with Afghan spinners by playing straight and rotating the strike.
The Test format tells a different story. Afghanistan have played very few Tests, and their batting has been exposed against a strong Indian bowling group at home.
Where to Watch India National Cricket Team vs Afghanistan National Cricket Team
Fans searching for where to watch india vs afghanistan usually want live streaming, TV listings and match timings in one place. Broadcast rights differ from one event to the next, so the answer changes with each series.
- Asian Games 2026: TV coverage is on the Sony Sports Network and streaming is on SonyLIV. Matches start in the morning in India, and the quarter-final was scheduled for 10:00 AM IST.
- Bilateral series: rights holders vary by season and by home board, so check BCCI or ACB announcements ahead of each tour
- ICC events and Asia Cup: rights are sold separately for each cycle, so the official ICC or ACC website lists current broadcasters
A few practical tips on where to watch india vs afghanistan live:
- Check the official board and tournament pages a few days before the game
- Confirm your subscription covers the specific event, since streaming apps often split rights by tournament
- Keep an eye on the weather, because both Asian Games meetings between these two were hit by rain
- Use ball-by-ball apps as a backup, and search for the ind vs afg live score if the stream drops
Looking Ahead: What Comes Next
According to the Asian Games 2026 cricket schedule, the immediate next step is India’s semi-final on October 1 against the winner of Nepal vs Sri Lanka. The Afghanistan national cricket team is out of the tournament, so the next india vs afghanistan meeting will come in a future series or an ICC event.
Bigger dates are in the diary. The 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa is the next major ICC event, and both teams are already using the current cycle to test squads. India used the June series to build pace-bowling depth and top-order options. Afghanistan will want to build on the centuries from Gurbaz and Shahidi and make their middle order more consistent against India’s spinners.
There is also the matter of a first win. Afghanistan have reached World Cup semi-finals and beaten some of the top sides in the world, but a win over India is still missing from their record. Every meeting from here carries that extra weight.
The Role of the IPL and Domestic Cricket
Part of why this rivalry has developed so quickly comes down to the IPL. Afghan players have used the league as their finishing school, playing under pressure against top international stars. Rashid Khan became a global name through franchise cricket, and Mujeeb, Noor Ahmad and Naveen-ul-Haq followed similar routes.
For India, the domestic structure that feeds the IPL has produced a deep bench. The 2026 ODI series was a good example. India rested some regulars and still rolled to a 3-0 win, with players like Kishan, Jaiswal, Brar and Prince Yadav taking their chances. That contrast, with India’s depth on one side and Afghanistan’s reliance on a handful of match-winners on the other, is exactly what keeps the fixture interesting.
Closing Thoughts
The india national cricket team vs afghanistan national cricket team story runs from a first T20 World Cup meeting in the Caribbean in 2010 to a match abandoned without toss in Nisshin in 2026. India lead in every column, with two Test wins, six ODI wins and eleven T20I wins, plus a tie and a no result in between. Afghanistan have not yet won a match against them, but the tied ODI in 2018 and the double Super Over in 2024 show how close they have come.
As both teams look toward the 2027 World Cup cycle, the story of ind vs afg cricket keeps moving forward. The next Asian Games cricket match for India comes on October 1, and the next chance for Afghanistan to break through could come at any time.
Read Also: Kuldeep Yadav | Virat Kohli | Axar Patel | Shreyas Iyer
FAQs
The two teams first met at the 2010 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, where India won. The rivalry became a regular fixture after Afghanistan gained Full Member status in 2017.
India lead in every format. They have won both Tests, six of seven ODIs (with one tie) and 11 of 12 T20Is (with one no result), according to figures available on September 28, 2026.
No. Afghanistan have not won a match against India in Tests, ODIs or T20Is.
Across formats, the two sides have played 20 completed matches: two Tests, seven ODIs and eleven T20Is with a result.
India play the semi-final on October 1, 2026, against the winner of the Nepal vs Sri Lanka quarter-final. The bronze and gold medal matches are on October 3.
He is a 15-year-old batter who impressed in the IPL and recently became the youngest player to play international cricket for India. He is part of India’s Asian Games squad.
The official ICC and board websites carry full scorecards, and the table in this article lists the key totals from the major games.
For the Asian Games, coverage is on Sony Sports Network and SonyLIV. For other series and ICC events, broadcasters change by season, so check the official board or tournament page before each match.
Source: ICC Cricket
