India A vs Afghanistan A, Tri Series 2026 Highlights: Match called off, AFG A win by 4 runs due to DLS

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: Match called off

And what we feared has happened. The match has been called off and Afghanistan A have won this match over India A as the rain refused to relent

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: Wait continues

No new update to give as it's stil reportedly raining in Dambulla. We are losing more overs as time ticks on. India will hope that they can have a game. If no play is possible, AFG will win due to DLS.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 177/2 (25.5 overs) vs IND

Vipraj with a loud appeal for an LBW on Bahir but he's turned down. Good call by the umpire as it looks like the batter had got an inside edge. And a sweep by Bahir to bring up his half century with a boundary. And the rain has returned as the players go off. If no more play happens, AFG will win this match due to being 3 runs ahead of the DLS par score

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 172/2 (25 overs) vs IND

Badoni will bowl the 25th and with a single, Nahir and Imran have brought up the 100-run partnership. If India are not careful, they might juts take the match away. 6 singles from this over as Afghanistan keep the scoreboard ticking.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 166/2 (24 overs) vs IND

Vipraj in the attack now Bahir with a single to start. Imran returns the favour with a single of his own. Imran with a cut but there's protection in the deep to fetch 2 runs. Another quick single and Bahir saves himself with a dive!!!

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 160/2 (23 overs) vs IND

Badoni continues and Afghanistan are just dealing in singles now, without a care in the world. This one also yields 2 singles from the first couple of deliveries. Ohhh!! Imran goes aerial but that has fallen in no man's land. Got decieved by the slower delivery, inside-edges it but it lands safely. 6 from this one

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 150/2 (21 overs) vs IND

Badoni brought in the atatck to break this partnership. Bahir with a single to start which is followed by another single by captain Imran. AFG are in no pressure, knowing fully well that they are ahaed of the DLS par score. 3 from this one.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 147/2 (20 overs) vs IND

Arshad Khan brought into the attack now. The two batters start this over off with back to back singles. 137 is the par score at the end of 20 overs. And after that bouncer which fetches 5 wides, AFG are well ahead. Pressure on the IND captain and bowlers. Imran ends the over with a mighty pull that goes over the ropes for a SIX!!!

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 132/2 (19 overs) vs IND

Vipraj is now slammed for a boundary as AFG batters are well on course of mainitaining the required run-rate in case the DLS kicks in. Bahir goes big again but the ball falls just short of mid-on and they take 2 runs. India will need to snap up one of these two players to regain the advantage.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 123/2 (18 overs) vs IND

Anukul continues and Imran with a lovely cut to get a boundary and his half century. It's getting dark here and India need to get wickets in case the DLS method kicks in if it rains.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 115/2 (17 overs) vs IND

We are into the 17th over and the Afghanistan batters are steady in the middle. Vipraj in the attack now. Bahir with a single to start. Imran will face the Indian bowler now and he manages to take a single as well. Loud appeal for a caught behind on Bahir but the umpire turns it down. Clever batting from the batter now as he scoops Vipraj over everyone's head to the fine leg boundary.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 97/2 (14 overs) vs IND

The scoring rate from Afghanistan has been pretty nice. They have managed to keep up with the tempo of the chase; the only thing is that they have lost two wickets. They will need a set batter through and through in this chase. The issue that arises in big chases like these is not the scoring rate but the lack of wickets when the clutch moment arises.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 79/2 (9.5 overs) vs IND

That was an arm delivery from Anukul Roy, which the batter Taniwal did not read it all. It rammed straight into the pads and was one of the easiest decisions the umpire could give it out. He has had an exceptional domestic season, as Anukul and also had quite a few shining moments for Kolkata Knight Riders.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 69/2 (9.2 overs) vs IND

Well, finally, that in-between short ball has worked well for India. It was on the ribs, and Eisakhil played the pull but could not keep it on the ground, and the square-leg fielder took the catch on the boundary. A timely breakthrough for India. As we update, Anukul Roy has come into the attack and picked up the wicket of Khlaid Taniwal, and it is LBW.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 60/0 (7.3 overs) vs IND

50 of the opening partnership comes up between the openers. Eisakhil has been the chief contributor in the partnership. He has been quite proactive in the stand. Indian bowlers might consider mixing it up a bit in terms of pace here. They have been pretty predictable with things. Arshad Khan, too, who has pace on his ally, has been struggling here.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 44/0 (5.2 overs) vs IND

This is a super start for Afghanistan. Eisakhil is playing a lovely hand here. Especially his punches through covers have been quite glorious, and it might be that shot from him which has forced the Indian bowlers to pull their lengths back a bit. Shedge has come into the attack, and he, too, has been a tad bit on the shorter side to start with. The issue, though, is that the shorter length is not coming with conviction, rather than a delivery which is missing a harder length, which is making it easier for the Afghan batters.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 26/0 (3.1 overs) vs IND

There is a steady breeze across the ground, which is giving Kamboj a natural swing in the air. There was a delivery of the first ball of his second over, which went quite a bit in after passing the batter. Having said that, though in his attempt to be on good length, Kamboj has been quite short to start with. He would want to go a little fuller.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: AFG 7/0 (1.1 overs) vs IND

Anshul Kamboj has taken the new ball for India. He did start well, but both the Afghan openers looked back to put pressure on the bowler and did a reasonable job. The good thing from Afghanistan is that both their openers have charged down the track of gave themselves room to disturb the accuracy of Kamboj. We have seen him get a bit rattled in that Test match in England when batters did it.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: Welcome back!

Well, it has been that sort of day here in Dambulla. The sun is shining yet again, and Anshul Kamboj has the new ball for India. With all the rain we have had, Kamboj might get some swing and seam on the surface. He is pretty good at Kamboj when the surface offers, he is pretty accurate in Kamboj.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: Teams

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: K Srikkanth on Washington Sundar

"Washington Sundar doesn't deserve a place in the team. He doesn't even bowl for GT and is playing as a middle-order batter. So he is a stand-by middle-order batter for India as he's not bowling at all. He doesn't bowl for GT and rarely bowls even for India. So it's a question mark as to how Sundar is a certainty in the side as an all-rounder," he said.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: K Srikkanth on Tilak Varma

"He is not in form, and he doesn't have the big-hitting capacity. He is not a tearaway batter. He can play shots, but he can't demolish attacks like a Phil Salt or Rajat Patidar. Tilak Varma can't smash the bowling like Rajat Patidar," he said. "He hasn't done well for MI in the last two to three IPLs. He can't take the opposition out of a contest. At his position, he has to play impactful knocks like Patidar."

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: Bad news

We should be starting by now, folks, but there are covers in place, hence the start seems to be delayed here in Dambulla. Already a shower in the first innings meant that the innings was reduced by one over, and it will be interesting to see how many overs will be cut out of the game this time. Do stay with us to get all the updates.

IND A vs AFG A Live: What did Tilak Varma say at toss

Today, we were looking to bowl first. Unfortunately, we have lost the toss. There's moisture on the wicket, so we wanted to bowl first. 290-300 will be a good score. First 6-7 overs, it'll be helpful for bowling. Let's see how the wicket behaves. We are playing with the same team.

IND A vs AFG A Live: Suryansh Shedge during innings break

(On his knock) The wind factor was obviously on the back of my mind because they have long boundaries. It was not easy to clear the boundary. Keeping that into consideration, the only thing I was looking to do is if the ball isn't in my arc, I'll look for twos and I think I ran a lot of twos and that helped me at the end. Obviously, we were eyeing to score above 340. (On the switch from T20 cricket to this format) Preparation was simple, I think it's a mental shift rather than skill because we've been practising cricket ever since I can remember. I have practised enough, it's just that mental switch where I'm just focused on being instinctive and watching the ball and playing. That's what changed. (On the 70-run partnership with Tilak) We were taking turns, because of the wind, we couldn't hit from both the ends. We were trying to score above 9 or 10 runs every over.

IND A vs AFG A Live: Teams

IND A vs AFG A Live: IND 349/9 (49 overs) vs AFG in Dambulla

Well, this could have been a lot more. A score of 380-400 was looking possible at one stage of the innings, but Afghanistan, especially after that second drinks break, were quite superb with their executions. They got everything right and have managed to pick up the crucial wickets to break the momentum. Kudos to Ahmadzai, who managed to pick up five wickets. For India, Prabhsimran Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Varma scored half-centuries. Do stay with us, we will be right back with the second innings.

IND A vs AFG A Live: India A 341/8 (48.3 overs) vs Afghanistan A

We are into the final overs, and with the wicket of Shedge and Arshad Khan, Ahmadzai has picked up five wickets in the match. He has been one bowler whenever the skipper has turned to answer the call. And despite losing eight wickets, India still has Vipraj Nigam and Anukul Roy in the middle who are pretty good with the batting as well.

IND A vs AFG A Live: India A 324/6 (46.4 overs) vs Afghanistan A

Tilak Varma is the last batter to fall. He was in that sort of mood to demolish everything and eventually perished. It was Ahmadzai who picked up his third wicket. Varma tried to hit the ball through the cow-corner, but the ball was there, and he just could not get the distance and was caught on the boundary. Well, a pretty good innings from the Indian skipper today.

IND A vs AFG A Live: India A 309/5 (45 overs) vs Afghanistan A

Tilak and Shedge have put up a 50-run stand in a brisk time here. A very good partnership for India under the circumstances. Afghanistan did come with a few plans of slow bumper, but these players, both Tilak and Shedge, are freshly coming out of a T20 season in India, so they would have it in their muscle memory on how to deal with those balls at this stage of the innings.

IND A vs AFG A Live: India A 284/5 (43.3 overs) vs Afghanistan A

Tilak Varma has scored a timely half-century here. He managed the middle overs nicely, but now he has to change gears. He needs to go after the bowling, but the challenge, though, for him is that the pitch is getting slower and Afghan bowlers are bowling quite loopy bumpers and slower ones, which seems to be a bit questionable in terms of why they are not being given wide.

IND A vs AFG A Live: India A 263/5 (41.5 overs) vs Afghanistan A

This has been a good passage of play for Afghanistan. Just when it was required for India to change gears and change the momentum of the innings, they have managed to pick crucial wickets, and as expected, the pitch is holding a bit here in the middle with the softer ball. Shedge is the batter in, and he has shown during the IPL that he can hit the long ball.

IND A vs AFG A Live: India A 257/5 (40 overs) vs Afghanistan A

Ayush Badoni has fallen for a golden duck after Gaikwad. It was a delivery on the fifth stump line from Safi, and it could have been cut or punched, but Badoni hung his bat out there playing a nothing shot, and the edge carried to the keeper. Well, untimely wickets from the Indian perspective and a nice couple of wickets after the drinks break for Afghanistan.

IND A vs AFG A Live: India A 245/4 (37.4 overs) vs Afghanistan A

We had a drinks break; the message must be pretty clear from the dugout. One of the batters must definitely start to take on the bowling. And the evidence before the break suggests that it is going to be Gaikwad. As we update, Safi has picked up Gaikwad. In his attempt to go over the mid-wicket boundary, he top-edged it, and the fielder inside the ring took the catch.

IND A vs AFG A Live: India A 238/3 (36 overs) vs Afghanistan A

There is more urgency from Gaikwad here. He has looked to run those singles harder since his half-century and also has looked to be a bit more proactive with his shots. He has a double hundred, does Gaikwad in the list A cricket, and he knows a thing or two about scoring big in this format of the game. So Afghanistan might have to be a bit more careful here.

IND A vs AFG A Live: India A 226/3 (34.1 overs) vs Afghanistan A

The feature of the current partnership has been the way both batters have complemented each other. They have got the singles away picked their gaps, and even if they had to go attacking, they tried to play shots on the ground, reducing the percentage of risk, which is a very important skill to possess in this format of the game. But given the situation, one of these two batters can start looking into going after the bowling.

IND A vs AFG A Live: India A 212/3 (32 overs) vs Afghanistan A

Ruturaj Gaikwad is playing a nice hand here. He scored a sublime century in the first game, and the way he has gotten stuck in today, there might be a high possibility that he might score another big score today. His strike-rotation through middle overs, rather than his ability to do it, is a standout. He increasingly seems like one batter who is ready to take a middle-order slot for the Indian side.

IND A vs AFG A Live: India A 203/3 (29.3 overs) vs Afghanistan A

This is another nice partnership between Tilak and Gaikwad. One thing Afghanistan failed to do today is string a passage where they could tighten runs and put some pressure on the batters. It did happen before Prabhsimran got out, Khalil was bowling a tidy spell, as a result, a false shot came from Prabhsimran against Mir, and once that fell the were not able to stop those boundary scoring deliveries again.

IND A vs AFG A Live: India A 186/3 (26.3 overs) vs Afghanistan A

It will be interesting to see how Tilak Varma bats at five. He has the game to both absorb and also put the pressure back on the bowlers in the T20 format of the game. But ODI is a different kettle of fish. It needs a lot more calculation through the middle overs and the most important thing is to get the tempo right, especially batting first, on what a good score is.

IND A vs AFG A Live: Good news

Good news, the rain has stopped, and the sun is out. It was only a brief break, hence there will be no cutting of overs. And the bowlers and batters are at their mark, and the game will resume right away. Khalil resumes for Afghanistan. Tilak and Ruturaj Gaikwad continue to bat for India.

IND A vs AFG A Live: What did Imran Mir say at toss

Want to bowl first. First 15 overs will support the bowlers. The preparation has been good for this series.

IND A vs AFG A Live: What did Tilak Varma say at toss

Today, we were looking to bowl first. Unfortunately, we have lost the toss. There's moisture on the wicket, so we wanted to bowl first. 290-300 will be a good score. First 6-7 overs, it'll be helpful for bowling. Let's see how the wicket behaves. We are playing with the same team.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: Rain stops play

It is raining quite heavily here in Dambulla, and the play has been stopped. Well, well, disappointment for India as they were dictating the terms of this innings, but nature has its say. Ruturaj Gaikwad is looking in superb form again, and Tilak Varma has time to get himself nicely. For Afghanistan, this is a welcome break; it will disturb the concentration of the batters. Do stay with us, we will update you as soon as it comes. Hopefully, it is a short break.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: IND 167/3 (22 overs) vs AFG A in Dambulla

Ruturaj Gaikwad is playing nicely here in the middle. He has looked to play the second fiddle and has been doing it pretty well. As we update, Prabhsimran has fallen here. Well, he will have to question the shot selection here more than the execution. It was a delivery which did seem like it was going down with the angle, but did not go enough to play a sweep; rather, one through mid-wicket could have been more productive. Nevertheless, he made his choice and perished now against Imran.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: IND 153/2 (19 overs) vs AFG A in Dambulla

Leg-spinner Zahir Khan has come into the attack after the 12th over. He seems to be one of those bowlers who rely on accuracy and pace rather than guile and flight, but today he has not hit the mark. Either he has been too full or too short, which is letting the Indian batters get some free deliveries. This has been the story of Afghan bowling today, right from ball one.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: IND 140/2 (16 overs) vs AFG A in Dambulla

We have reached the first water break. Although two wickets Afghanistan has picked should make the passage shared, the rate at which India is scoring is quite ominous. The wickets in Sri Lanka tend to get slower and slower as the day progresses, and if India can manage to get over 350, which they should be able to do will be a massive total.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: IND 122/2 (14.1 overs) vs AFG A in Dambulla

Prabhsimran has got to his half-century here. It has been a lovely innings from him. While all eyes were on Sooryavanshi, he from the other end continued to do his work at a decent clip. The good thing about Prabhsimran is that he is pretty good at strike rotation, especially against spinners, and he can also hit sixes of deliveries from any length, which makes him a lethal player.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: IND 104/2 (12 overs) vs AFG A in Dambulla

Although this is a fresh wicket, India has got to a flier here. There are too many runs to start with. If they could have gotten their lines right, well, India might have tried something different to get runs, which might have forced a few more wickets. Nevertheless, now it is all about picking wickets through the 50 overs or this Indian lineup from here on has enough power to post a very big total from here on.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: IND 92/2 (9.5 overs) vs AFG A in Dambulla

Priyansh Arya has fallen here. Ahmadzai has picked up the second wicket of this spell. Well, it was a good opportunity for Arya with the start India had to make a big score, but not happen. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was the player of the match in the previous game, has walked into the middle. This format does seem to suit his style of batting better at times for CSK during IPL. He did look out of depth.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: IND 82/1 (7.5 overs) vs AFG A in Dambulla

Ahmadzai has got Vaibhav Sooryavanshi here. More than it is his wicket, it was Sooryavanshi's error in shot execution. It was a short ball which the teenager tried to upper cut and ended up giving a catch to the keeper. Big wicket that for Afghanistan because the way Sooryavanshi was batting, it did look like India was going to post a mammoth score.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: IND 59/0 (6 overs) vs AFG A in Dambulla

This is poor from Afghanistan seamers, they seem to be short of ideas on what to do here. When Afghanistan's skipper won the toss and opted to bowl first, one would have expected them to have clear plans, but so far it has been just adjusting to what the batters are doing rather than them trying to force a wicket. The line has been very poor from both Ibrahim and Ahmadzai.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: IND 41/0 (4.1 overs) vs AFG A in Dambulla

Well, this is poor bowling from Afghanistan. Sooryavanshi on offside, will hit for boundaries for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and Afghanistan clearly did not do their work. It seems like they are hoping to mis-time one or edge it to the keeper rather with a slip in place, but it is not a good tactic if it is deliberate. They are making an error with the Afghans.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live: IND 25/0 vs AFG A in Dambulla

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has got a flier here, and the sun is shining brightly after a bit of drizzle. One thing Afghanistan bowlers need to be careful about is not giving Sooryavanshi too much width. If he is given width, he will throw everything at it. Prabhsimran, at the other end, too, has been in superb form in the recently concluded IPL. He will be scoring a few.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live Score: Let's go!

It is a bit cloudy here today. And well, there is a bit of drizzle too. The weather can change pretty quickly in this part of the world, and when it does rain, it pours quite heavily. The rain will help the Afghan seamers get some swing and seam movement initially.

India A vs Afghanistan A Live Score: AFG playing XI

Imran Mir(c), Hassan Eisakhil, Khalid Taniwal, Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai, Bahir Shah, Ishaq Rahimi(w), Khalil Gurbaz, Zahir Khan, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Mohammad Ibrahim, Farmanullah Safi

India A vs Afghanistan A Live Score: IND playing XI

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Priyansh Arya, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma(c), Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Arshad Khan, Vipraj Nigam, Anukul Roy, Anshul Kamboj

India A vs Afghanistan A Live Score: Sooryavanshi falters; Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshad Khan take India A past Sri Lanka A

India A began their tri-series campaign in Dambulla with an eight-run victory over Sri Lanka A on Tuesday. The visitors seemed like heading towards a defeat at one stage, but a strong finish with the ball helped them defend a total of 277 and begin the triangular competition with a win.

Sri Lanka A made a confident start to their chase of 278 through openers Niroshan Dickwella and Avishka Fernando. The pair added 93 runs for the first wicket and put India A under pressure early in the innings. (Read more)

India A vs Afghanistan A Live Score: ‘I will play in all positions and show now’: Tilak Varma’s World Cup redemption — and the coach behind every step

Tilak Varma said this to his coach Salam Bayash after a 44 off 16 balls against Zimbabwe. The T20 World Cup World Cup had not gone well until then — three games at number three, the shots not coming, the runs not following. The order change had been forced. The cameo had arrived. And now the pupil was telling his teacher: watch. Bayash chuckles, recalling it to this newspaper. (Read more)

India A vs Afghanistan A Live Score: Srikkanth: Tilak Varma undeserving, Patidar snubbed, Sundar shouldn’t be in XI

Former India captain and ex-chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth has launched a blistering attack on the selectors over India's T20I squad for the upcoming Ireland and England series, questioning multiple calls — from the vice-captaincy to the all-rounder slots.

India have named Shreyas Iyer as the new T20I captain, with Tilak Varma handed the vice-captaincy after Axar Patel was stripped of the role he held during the T20 World Cup. Speaking on his YouTube channel CheekyCheekaTV, Srikkanth was unimpressed. "Tilak Varma hasn't even captained a side," he said, taking aim at chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir for the decision. (Read more)

India A vs Afghanistan A Live Score: The freeze and the fix: Anshul Kamboj, the Test that stalled him and the IPL that rebuilt him

Satish Rana has asked his pupil the same question many times since last July. Soon after the Test. Weeks after Anshul Kamboj returned to Karnal. The answer has never changed.

He didn't know why he bowled the way he did. He didn't feel pressure. There were no fitness issues. No warning signs. But whatever the reason, he simply couldn't bowl in that Test. (Read more)