India vs Afghanistan, 3rd ODI, Afghanistan tour of India 2026 - CommentaryIND vs AFG, 3rd ODI, Afghanistan tour of India 2026 - Commentary

Harder challenges lie ahead for Shubman Gill's team and we'll learn more about them in England next month where they play three ODIs. Will also be interesting to see the squad they take with them, given how many options there are. But that's for later. For now, this is Sagar Chawla signing off on behalf of Siva and Akshay Maanay. Goodbye!

Shubman Gill receives the trophy from BCCI President Mithun Manhas and then walks over to his teammates who are waiting behind the WINNERS board. Gurnoor Brar gets to hold the trophy now as they pose for the cameras. A terrific series for India who showcased the immense amount of talent that's waiting in the wings. Granted Afghanistan weren't exactly the most formidable opposition, but you can only do what's in your control and they ticked off pretty much every box. Almost every player grabbed the opportunity at some point or the other in the three-match series. In contrast, Afghanistan barely had one or two performances to write home about. Hundreds from Gurbaz and Shahidi stood out, but there was little else.

Shubman Gill | Player of the Series and India captain: Yeah, definitely. I think the first spell bowled by Gurnoor and Prasidh was outstanding to see that kind of pace in those conditions was not easy, but I think they kept putting their effort and kept pushing. (Were you tempted to give them that one extra over?) I mean, definitely you are, but you know, looking at the weather, I did ask them if they wanted to bowl that one extra over, but they were pretty exhausted. (How many boxes have you ticked in this series?) A lot of them definitely. I think a lot of the boxes are ticked. We spoke about keeping the intensity in the middle overs and some of the things that we also spoke about was how can we keep creating those opportunities in the middle overs as a bowling unit and as a batting unit, how can we keep pushing for the extra runs in the middle overs. And I think a lot of those boxes were ticked. (What are you looking forward to with what you've got coming up?) Going to England the conditions would be a little bit more similar to what we get in South Africa, not quite similar, but still close to that. So the kind of combination that we would be looking to play there, hopefully we have all the players fit and ready, it is going to be another great series for us.

Prasidh Krishna | Player of the Match: Yeah, ice bath's the only thing remaining now, so body feels good. Bit of a break after the innings, but good to see the way the batsmen batted. I'm really, really happy for the team. (Can you give us an idea of what you've been doing?) Yeah, I think it's just that kind of hit the length that, as a team, whatever we discussed, what the tactic is, just trying to do that a lot more and also preparation-wise. You just sit back and think about what the games have been like, what you actually want to do, spend more time thinking about it. And it's just the homework, I would say, that has been really good. (On having a good bunch of bowlers around him in GT and the Indian team) Honestly, that's really helpful when you have some real good bowlers alongside. You keep learning from each other. There's always a competition in the nets. So that's what keeps you going when you have the right kind of group around you. You always push each other to do better and I think that's paid off. (Did he want to push himself to bowl a sixth over and get that 5-fer?) Yeah, I did get that thought for a bit, but then I told myself I've still got a lot of the game to go. But then I came back in and I saw, look, four wickets, five wickets, I am definitely happier with the five, but if I hadn't got it, I'm sure we'd still end up on the winning side. So I'm happy with that.

Hashmatullah Shahidi | Afghanistan captain: I think today, at the first 10 overs, I think they bowled well, but we lost wickets that put us under pressure. And after that, me and Azmat had a good partnership, but again, we didn't finish well in the batting because after that partnership, we lost back-to-back wickets. That's why we fell short while scoring runs. (On getting his maiden ODI hundred) After a long, I think, 95 games, I scored my first 100. I feel good and Inshallah, I will try my best to, from today, to do it again and again for my country. And yeah, it was so hot and I was feeling cramping. I'm feeling good now. (What is the plan moving forward?) I think we have talented guys, but when it comes to India, playing in India is a tough side and we will learn, we were not good. We will learn from that. And moving forward, I think we are a quality side, but we were away from ODI cricket because last year we played Bangladesh eight months ago. So we play Ireland next and in the three games, we were lacking, we will work on that and yeah, the coach is also new and we will try to work together as a team.

Stats by Deepu Narayanan

Most POTS awards for India in ODI
15 Sachin Tendulkar
11 Virat Kohli
7 Sourav Ganguly/ Yuvraj Singh/ MS Dhoni
6 Rohit Sharma/ Shubman Gill

Fastest ODI 100s vs Afghanistan (by balls)
57 Eoin Morgan Manchester 2019
63 Rohit Sharma Delhi 2023
71 Ishan Kishan Lucknow 2026
76 Glenn Maxwell Mumbai WS 2023
77 Shubman Gill Lucknow 2026
83 William Porterfield Greater Noida 2017
83 Yashasvi Jaiswal Chennai 2026
Three of the seven fastest instances have come in this series.

Fewest innings to second ODI 100 (India)
6 Y Jaiswal
7 S Dhawan
9 K Jadav
17 V Kohli
18 S Gill

Afghanistan losing all matches in a bilateral series
0-3 vs WI in India 2019
0-3 vs Pak in Sri Lanka in 2023
0-3 vs SL in Sri Lanka in 2024
0-3 vs Ind in India 2026

Afghanistan vs India across all formats
18 matches
0 wins
15 defeats (including Super Over defeats)
One tie
One NR
India remain the only Full Member side Afghanistan have never beaten in Internationals.

Winning with most balls to spare chasing 200+ targets
177 WI vs Can Centurion 2003 (Tar: 203)
144 Aus vs Ban Mirpur 2011 (Tar: 230)
142 Pak vs Ind Lahore 1997 (Tar: 217)
128 Ind vs Afg Chennai 2026 (Tar: 219)
127 Ind vs SL Dambulla 2017 (Tar: 217)

Afghanistan seamers this series
38.4 overs
Two wickets
Avg 185
ER 9.56
SR 116
This is the worst ER for seamers in a series where they bowled at least 30 overs.

Yashasvi Jaiswal: Yes, I really enjoyed. Initially, I got some runs initially in powerplay, so I just wanted to keep going and play till the end. So I was really enjoying it. (How do you keep yourself focussed and ready when you get an opportunity?) I just focus on my process, what is in my control and try to work hard as much as I can. And of course, there is always support from the support staff and they have been amazing to me. The communication is unreal. So I know what's going on. So I'm really enjoying it. (On converting his starts into hundreds) Yes, I think I've been lucky, so I'm just trying to convert if I get the start. As I have seen like in sports and in cricket, especially that when it is your day, make it count. So I try to do that. Because a lot of experience I had recently that I was trying, but things were not going in my way. But I was very determined today that I just need to keep my focus in and just keep trying to rotate the strikes. And if I get in, so I'll just make it count. (On his conversations with Rohit) Of course, Rohit Bhaiya [is] always helpful. And I always ask questions, a lot of questions to him and try to implement in the game itself. Today as well, when I was getting dot balls, so I was asking what should I do then. He was telling me, just try to rotate the strike and the intent should be there. So I was keeping my intent and rotating the strike. So that really helped me. And yeah, I always enjoy being with him, going and playing under him. Everything is like, it's just amazing.

19:55 Local Time, 14:25 GMT, 19:55 IST: Another ruthless performance from India as they seal the series 3-0. They've blown Afghanistan away on a pitch with some pace and bounce here in Chennai, set up by a sensational bowling display from Prasidh Krishna who claimed his maiden ODI five-for. The run-chase was never in doubt, and it was made even sweeter by Yashasvi Jaiswal cruising to his second ODI hundred. Rohit Sharma filled his boots as well after getting dropped early in the innings. He played some really eye-catching shots, especially against Rashid Khan before getting dismissed on 78. Afghanistan again weren't up to scratch. If not for that battling hundred from captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, they would've gone absolutely nowhere today.

Review for caught behind!