This will be the first time a team will host India on Indian soil as Afghanistan have been playing their home matches in India for a while. They have played home games in Lucknow, Dehradun and Greater Noida, but never against India.
For India, the series is scheduled between the Test tour of Sri Lanka and the Asian Games, which starts late September in Japan. The second Test against Sri Lanka is scheduled to end on August 27, more than two weeks before the first T20I against Afghanistan. The Asian Games begin from September 24, one week after the third T20I.
Afghanistan and India had played a one-off Test and three ODIs in June, which was an away tour for Afghanistan. India won the Test by an innings and 300 runs on the third day in New Chandigarh and then clinched the ODIs 3-0.
India’s recent white-ball results have been poor despite being the reigning T20 champions. Soon after losing the two T20Is to Ireland in Belfastin the last week of June, India lost the T20I series in England by a 4-0 margin (one game was washed out) and then went down 2-1 in the ODIs. India are currently in Zimbabwe for a three-match series.
Afghanistan haven’t played any T20Is since the T20 World Cup earlier this year in India where they won two of their four games and missed out on a Super Eight spot.
