New Delhi, September 17, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran has called for more regular series against top international teams, saying his side needs greater exposure to high-level competition to bridge the gap in T20 cricket.
Zadran’s comments came after Afghanistan suffered a 127-run defeat against India in the third T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday, handing the hosts a 3-0 series sweep.
India posted 221/7 after Abhishek Sharma produced a spectacular 108 off 34 balls, reaching his century in just 30 deliveries. Afghanistan struggled in the chase and were bowled out for 94 in 14.1 overs.
The defeat was Afghanistan’s biggest by runs in T20 internationals, while their total was also their lowest against India in the format.
Zadran acknowledged that his team failed to build on its intent with the bat and said the players would work on converting that approach into more consistent performances.
“We improved a little bit in the powerplay. I’m totally happy with the intent. I would say we didn’t contribute well in today’s game. We just gave back-to-back wickets. But we will work on it,” Zadran said during the post-match presentation.
The Afghanistan captain, who took over the T20I leadership from Rashid Khan following the team’s early exit from the T20 World Cup, stressed that improvement would take time and require greater exposure to stronger opposition.
“It was the first series for us after the T20 World Cup. So we need to play more games, more series, especially against the bigger teams. The more we play, I’m sure we will improve,” he said.
Zadran also highlighted fitness as another area requiring greater attention, saying Afghanistan needed to raise its standards to compete consistently with the strongest sides.
“If you want to improve, we should work on ourselves and fitness to level up with the biggest teams,” he said, adding that Afghanistan needed more matches each year to make that progress.
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