Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal has questioned India’s decision to field a near full-strength side in the opening T20I of their three-match series against Afghanistan, arguing the contest presented an ideal opportunity to test the depth of the squad rather than lean on established names.
Akmal’s comments centered on India’s call to bench 15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for the series opener at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on September 13, despite fielding him during India’s earlier series against England – a decision he described as inconsistent given the relative strength of the two opponents.
Speaking on the Game Plan podcast, Akmal said India should have used the Afghanistan series specifically to assess its bench strength. Asked directly whether India should have fielded a second-string team for the fixture, he responded “100 per cent,” leaving little ambiguity about his position. He argued that a young player like Sooryavanshi needs exposure across different levels of opposition in order to build confidence and match temperament, and questioned the reasoning behind giving the teenager opportunities against a stronger side such as England while overlooking him against Afghanistan, a team currently ranked lower in the T20I standings.
According to Akmal, bilateral series against nominally weaker opposition are precisely the fixtures international teams should use to identify and develop their next tier of players. To support his argument, Akmal pointed to India’s past practice of resting senior stars such as MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma during comparable bilateral series, a strategy that historically allowed fringe and younger players to accumulate international experience without placing extra strain on the team’s most important performers. He suggested that India’s team management appeared to be moving away from that approach in the current series, opting instead for continuity and experience even in a contest against a team perceived to be less threatening.
Akmal extended his criticism to India’s decision to include frontline pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the playing XI, questioning why a bowler of his stature and workload sensitivity was needed for a series that, in his assessment, could have doubled as a testing ground for India’s reserve bowling options such as spinners or uncapped seamers. On the field, India entered the series on the back of a 3-0 T20I sweep of Zimbabwe, a series in which Sooryavanshi was named Player of the Series after scoring an 18-ball fifty that made him the youngest player to reach a half-century in men’s T20 internationals. That form fuelled expectations that he would retain his place at the top of the order against Afghanistan as well. Instead, captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss, elected to bowl first, and named Sanju Samson to open alongside Abhishek Sharma, with Ishan Kishan retained as wicketkeeper.
Iyer confirmed at the toss that there was no injury concern behind the decision to leave out Sooryavanshi, describing it as purely a tactical call linked to managing team combination. He noted that Washington Sundar and two further players had also been omitted from the XI, though he did not elaborate on the specific reasoning beyond citing the difficulty of balancing a settled batting and bowling unit ahead of the Asian Games. Afghanistan, led by new white-ball captain Ibrahim Zadran, arrived for the series having studied Sooryavanshi’s recent performances closely, including footage from Indian Premier League matches in which he has featured.
Zadran said his side had prepared specific plans to counter both the teenager and Bumrah, calling the young Indian batter “an amazing talent” while stressing that Afghanistan intended to keep its approach simple rather than overthink its strategy against him. Sooryavanshi remains part of the squad and available for selection in the remaining two matches of the series, scheduled for September 15 and September 17, also at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Whether India persists with the same top order or responds to the surrounding debate by handing him an opportunity in the next fixture is likely to remain a talking point as the series progresses.