Ibrahim Zadran begins his Afghanistan captaincy chasing a first T20I win over India

Ibrahim Zadran takes charge of Afghanistan for the first time as their full-time T20I captain when the sides open a three-match series in Delhi on Sunday

Afghanistan have never beaten India in a Twenty20 international. India have won eight of the nine completed meetings between the teams, the other producing no result, and the search for a first begins again at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

It is the opening assignment of Ibrahim Zadran's tenure. The opening batter succeeds Rashid Khan, who stays in the 15-man squad as a specialist leg-spinner after leading Afghanistan through this year's T20 World Cup.

All three matches are in Delhi, running to 17 September, with the first ball on Sunday due at 7.30pm IST.

A new captain and a settled dressing room

Zadran was appointed full-time T20I captain by the Afghanistan Cricket Board in August and has spoken warmly of the handover, saying his relationship with Rashid and the understanding between them would help the side make a fresh start in the format after an early exit from the T20 World Cup.

He also has a coach still settling into the job. Richard Pybus replaced Jonathan Trott in February and, in Zadran's assessment, has carried on the work of his predecessor rather than tearing it up.

The captain played down the idea that Indian conditions hold any mystery for his players, pointing to the amount of cricket the squad has played in the country across the T20 World Cup and the 50-over World Cup.

Plans for Bumrah

The most obvious obstacle is Jasprit Bumrah, who has been declared fit and returns to the India attack for the series. Zadran said Afghanistan had worked specifically on how to handle him.

"If you look at Jasprit Bumrah, he is one of the best, and he is my favourite fast bowler," Zadran said in Delhi on Saturday. "We as a group never think things in a complicated way for ourselves. So we have a very good plan for him, and we just thought about him, how to play against him, and hopefully we are going to play better cricket against Jasprit Bumrah or the Indian Cricket Team."

Zadran added that his batters had drawn on team-mates who have faced India's teenage opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the IPL.

Naveen-ul-Haq returns to the squad

Afghanistan's most significant selection news is the return of fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq, who missed the West Indies series and the T20 World Cup with a stress fracture in his right shoulder.

The board also recalled all-rounder Gulbadin Naib to add middle-order depth and named uncapped wicketkeeper-batter Noor Rahman as the second gloveman on the strength of his domestic and Shpageeza Cricket League form.

"The Afghanistan Cricket Board has always made every effort to select a well-balanced and fully prepared squad for all relevant competitions," ACB chief executive Naseeb Khan said when the squad was announced.

Spin remains the likeliest route in

Whatever Zadran's plans for Bumrah, Afghanistan's own strength is in their spinners. Rashid, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Nangyal Kharoti and Mohammad Nabi give the captain five slow-bowling options to choose from.

They will need them. The Arun Jaitley Stadium has become one of the flatter surfaces on the Indian T20 circuit, with true bounce and short square boundaries that leave bowlers little margin.

Much will also rest on the top order, where Zadran's opening partnership with Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been Afghanistan's most reliable source of quick starts.

India rebuilding under Shreyas Iyer

India come in with a new leadership group of their own. Shreyas Iyer captains the side for the series with Tilak Varma as his deputy, and the squad carries both Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan among the wicketkeeping options.

Harshit Rana has been ruled out and replaced by Yash Thakur, while Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar have been cleared to play.

India are also using the series to look ahead to the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, which gives the selectors reason to try combinations rather than settle on one.

Afghanistan have lost nothing in the build-up and gained a returning fast bowler; what they have yet to find, in nine attempts, is a way past India.

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