India vs Afghanistan, 2nd ODI, Afghanistan tour of India 2026 - CommentaryIND vs AFG, 2nd ODI, Afghanistan tour of India 2026 - Commentary

A comprehensive victory for India as they seal the series with a game to spare. The conditions proved a bigger challenge than the opposition today, and India will be pleased with how they handled them. Afghanistan looked drained after their time in the field and never really threatened the target. They'll have one final chance on Saturday and might be better served batting first and trying to put India under pressure. That's all from us for now. Join us for the final ODI. Until then, goodbye and stay safe..

Shubman Gill | Player of the Match: (How's your body?) A little sore, got a lot of cramps when I went out, but it was really hot and batted for almost 40-45 overs, so the body was getting a lot of cramps in different areas of the body, but it's much better now. (How do you look at your batting and where you are right now?) Honestly, in a pretty good space. The ball is going exactly where I want it to go and I'm feeling very confident from the first ball. Even in this match, in the series actually, I had a target for myself that I want to be there, I want to finish the matches and bat till 40-45 overs and build that habit, whenever I get a start, I want to convert those into big ones. (Were you eyeing a double hundred?) Yes, I was, but I knew that I'll have to keep hitting my shots, keep 430, 440, 450 in mind. Yes, I actually think I middled it (reverse sweep) too well that it went to deep covers. (Do you feel it was a good toss to lose?) Not really. Even if you would have bowled first, I think the wicket was pretty much similar. If you would have gotten a target of 310-320, it would have been a good chase for us and it would have been a good kind of pressure on our batting group. (What have you made of the debutants and also the other players in the side?) I think they're all in very good space. The way our fast bowlers are bowling in this heat, on these wickets, it's not easy to keep hitting the deck, keep hitting those areas consistently with that pace. So very happy with that.

Hashmatullah Shahidi | Afghanistan captain: You cannot put all things on toss. I think we were not good enough in the bowling. So many easy options in the bowling to them. We gave them momentum, I think that's why we didn't bowl well in the first 20 overs. Yeah, it was hot, but at the same time, you cannot put everything on toss. You have to bowl well in the right areas. We didn't do that well today, so hopefully we will learn from this. (On sending Darwish Rasooli to bat) I think he was cramping. I asked him, coach asked him if he is okay, he said, 'I am okay, I want to bat.' So that's why I told him to go before me because he is a good striker of the ball and we needed someone to hit big for us, but unfortunately he got cramps again and hopefully he recovers soon. (On the final ODI and the takeaways from this series) I think a lot of learnings because it was a tough series for us and hopefully in the Chennai game, we do well and I think we had positives also in this series. The way Rahmat played today and the way Gurbaz is playing, we have all these positive things with us, but we need to be up to the mark in our bowling department because next game is also crucial for us and hopefully we are up to the mark in the bowling department.

Stats by Deepu Narayanan

Most POTM awards in ODIs since Jan 2022
9 Virat Kohli/Shubman Gill
8 Shai Hope/Travis Head
7 Kusal Mendis/Charith Asalanka/Brandon McMullen

Biggest defeat for Afghanistan by runs
275 vs Aus Perth 2015
170 vs Ind Lucknow 2026 *
155 vs SL Pallekele 2024
154 vs Zim Sharjah 2018
150 vs Sco Abu Dhabi 2015
150 vs Eng Manchester 2019

First defeat in six bilateral ODI series for Afghanistan and first win in three as captain for Shubman Gill

Short balls from seamers this series
India: 126 balls | Seven wkts | Avg 16.28 | ER 5.42 | False shot % 27.8
Afghanistan: 103 balls | Two wkts | Avg 75.50 | ER 8.79 | False shot % 13.3

Arshdeep Singh: (On the series win) Feels really good. Just been following the processes as a team, and the results are coming through nicely. And very good to see new faces in the bowling line-up and them stepping up and taking a lot of wickets. (On his own bowling) I'm just enjoying whatever is happening on the field and off the field, I'm just trying to enjoy it and just give it my all and not have any regrets of not putting my 100% on the field. (Chat with Shreyas when he was on a hat-trick) I have no idea I was on a hat-trick. No one knew. Now I have a regret (chuckles). (Chat in the dressing room with the World Cup coming up next year) The environment and the chat has been really positive. The way the boys are putting in the hard yards in the practice sessions, the results will come through nicely in the future as well. We are just looking to follow what's best for the team and in the team's interest. So we're just trying to give our best, and as I said before, the results will follow. (On Gurnoor Brar and Prince Yadav) Everyone here, whenever they come here, they're pretty confident. They're coming off good IPL seasons as well. And the way we saw them bowling in the nets and how they're prepared, we can see they are ready to go and very hungry for success. And you can see that on the field as well. They're taking wickets for fun and just enjoying the moment.

Gurnoor Brar and Arshdeep Singh were the standout performers with three wickets apiece, while Prince impressed with a couple of wickets of his own. Shubman Gill did not take the field after his marathon innings in the sweltering heat, leaving Shreyas Iyer to captain the side during the chase. The stand-in skipper handled the bowling changes smartly as India wrapped up a comprehensive victory. Stay tuned for the post-match reactions..

21:24 Local Time, 15:54 GMT: Afghanistan were never really in the chase. The only question was how long they could make India stay on the field. Gurbaz got off to a flying start and even earned a reprieve when Prince Yadav had him dismissed off a no-ball. But he couldn't capitalize on the second chance and fell soon after. Ibrahim Zadran too looked set for a bigger score but failed to convert his start. The only meaningful resistance came from Rahmat Shah. Alongside Sediqullah Atal, he stitched together a 50-plus partnership and briefly kept the Indian bowlers at bay. However, once Washington broke the stand, Afghanistan's hopes of putting together a respectable chase faded quickly. Shah continued to battle from one end, bringing up a fighting half-century, but found little support from the rest of the batting order. The last two wickets hung around long enough to help Shah add a few more runs to his tally, but the inevitable was only delayed. He eventually became the final wicket to fall for 79 as Afghanistan were comfortably outplayed.

Prince Yadav to Rahmat Shah, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

India review! It is for a LBW against Sami. Brar was confident. But this seemed to be heading down leg. India have two reviews, so Iyer went why not. The impact itself seems to be outside leg. No bat as per UltraEdge. Ball-tracking shows impact is umpire's call and wickets missing. Not Out