Between Kotla and Kabul, the lines have blurred.

In central Delhi, there is hardly a street left untouched by the colours of the Indian flag. With leaders from many nations descending upon the capital for the BRICS summit, every nook and corner screams — unmistakably — India. And yet, at the heart of it all, inside the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the Indian cricket team finds itself in the visitors’ dressing room.

“This is historic. It has never happened in the history of this stadium,” a DDCA official quips. Across the 36 Tests, 22 ODIs and 5 T20Is they have played here, India have never before been cast as the away side. On Sunday, September 13, that streak ends — Shreyas Iyer’s team will take the field against Afghanistan, or, more accurately, will be hosted by them, in the first of a three-match T20I series.

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For Iyer, though, the symbolism will barely matter once the first ball is bowled. His tenure as the leader is heading towards a consequential period.

The early months of his role as Suryakumar Yadav’s successor have offered little comfort, if any. At England, his team lost four of five games — only a washout saving him from the ignominy of a whitewash. Before that, Ireland handed them a 2-0 sweep. The lone bright spot has been a clean 3-0 sweep of Zimbabwe

Injury woes

Should one be tasked with making a case in Iyer’s defence, a prolonged list of injuries could be put forth. Jasprit Bumrah — the metronome around whom India’s bowling attack is built — is yet to feature under Iyer’s captaincy, having picked up a knee injury during the ODI series against England in July. Washington Sundar suffered a hamstring injury on the same tour, while Nitish Kumar Reddy was ruled out in June with a quadriceps issue.

Jasprit Bumrah in action. (FILE photo)

All three were named in the squad with an asterisk, their selection contingent on clearing fitness tests. Not only have they done that, they also have looked sharp in India’s training sessions on Friday and Saturday. Bumrah, in particular, troubled every India batter he bowled to. Both Washington and Nitish, meanwhile, bowled at full tilt, while also getting time in the middle with the bat.

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Still, with India staring down a punishing calendar — as many as 20 T20Is potentially between now and year’s end — and injuries having become a recurring theme, workload management is likely to be of immense importance.

On being asked about it in the pre-match press conference, the Indian captain said, “Looking at every individual who has come out of an injury, they are looking fit and fine. They are in great shape and we had two high-intensity training sessions yesterday and the day before yesterday. I honestly can’t tell you how we are going to manage it (the workload), but all I can assure you is that the team is looking promising.”

Iyer reserved particular praise for Reddy, stating “I am glad that Nitish is back from his injury and is looking in great shape. The efforts that he put in yesterday, I saw the workload was pretty intense. And yes, looking forward to seeing him in the series and then all the games going forward.”

Nitish Kumar Reddy in action. (FILE photo)

Bumrah’s selection has drawn its own share of scrutiny, given his significance in the 50-over format with an ODI World Cup on the horizon, but Iyer is of the opinion that game time will help the pace spearhead build his confidence back up.

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“If you would ask me as an individual who is coming out of an injury, I would want more game time and more confidence leading up to a certain tournament. I interacted with him yesterday and he is in that mindset where he wants to come and perform for the team.”

Asiad tune-up

For Afghanistan, though, the series will certainly offer some crucial game time ahead of the Asian Games, considering they have not featured in the shortest format since the T20 World Cup in February. “It’s a great achievement for us, for our cricket. I am sure this series will help us a lot,” said the team’s captain, Ibrahim Zadran.

With IPL experience not being found wanting in his team, and with Naveen-ul-Haq returning to the team for the first time since December 2024, he can only take a leaf out of Lorcan Tucker’s book and hope.

“We have played enough cricket here to know the conditions really well,” Zadran commented.

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Of course, one would expect the ‘home’ captain to say so.