Afghanistan will lock horns against India in the second T20I of the series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, after the latter drew first blood at the same venue on Sunday. After India registered a comprehensive seven-wicket win, the discussion among the experts is the same.

Who should be India’s first-choice opener? – Sanju Samson or Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The team management and the selectors have played musical chairs among the two batters, with Samson returning to the playing XI in the series opener after missing the Zimbabwe series.

However, the Kerala batter failed to leave a mark, scoring 10 runs off eight deliveries before holing out to deep square leg. Barring the three game-changing knocks in the T20 World Cup, Samson hasn’t been able to deliver consistent performances as he is averaging around 15 in his last 23 innings. 

With Vaibhav Sooryavanshi batting like a dream and receiving all the fandom, there is no doubt that the youngster is hot on the heels of the experienced batter.

Furthermore, the fifth bowling option remains a concern for India. The trio of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube and Abhishek Sharma conceded 59 runs in the four overs they bowled collectively.

Head-to-head: Matches: 9, Won by India: 8, Won by Afghanistan: 0, No Result: 1.

India squad for Afghanistan T20Is: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Yash Thakur.

Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Noor Rahman, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangeyalia Kharote, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Abdullah Ahmadzai and Naveen-ul-Haq