AFG vs IND

11:22 PM local time and IST: So, the series is done and dusted, and it's time to pose in front of the cameras with the trophy in the middle and the entire squad in front of the 'Winners' banner! India have been convincing with a capital 'C'! Their next T20 assignment is in the Asian Games. The same for Afghanistan. That comes our way later on this month. As for now, from the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, it's Sourabh, Datrim and Bidipto taking your leave. Keep following Sportskeeda! 

Shreyas Iyer (India captain): "It wasn't an easy wicket, but the way Abhishek (Sharma) played today, it was flawless and so easy to the eye! I kind of knew that we were going to bat first today, then came that phenomenal start! Axar (Patel) has done it in the past, and today, he has enough experience. He can deliver now better than ever. He thinks a lot about his game, and keeps delivering the performances!" 

Ibrahim Zadran (Afghanistan captain): "We improved a little bit in the power play, happy with the intent, but, after that, we kept giving away wickets. But the intent was much better. We will struggle a bit, but keeping that intent going is key, if we want to beat the biggest team. It has been a long time since we played a T20I, the last one was in the World Cup. But, we have to get better in terms of fitness and strategy, and, we need more games against the bigger teams." 

Abhishek Sharma's record-breaking 108 off 34 balls sees him finish as the highest run getter in the series with a tally of 329 runs in 3 matches making him not only the Player of the Match but also the Player of the Series.

This is what he to say: (how is a 30-ball hundred even possible?) I have told in the first interview as well, we have been doing this for the last 2 years. One or two bad series won't define us as a batting unit. We have been playing to dominate all throughout the year before the world cup, no matter who we are playing against. As a batter, there will be ups and downs but the most important thing as a team is to stay together and support each other. (thoughts inside his head during his knock tonight) It all depends on the process that I do before every series. It is very particular for me depending on who I am playing, the bowlers that I am going to face in the powerplay and then in the seventh or eighth over. Then, it is very important to have the captain and the coach on your side. You need to get that surety so it is beacuse of them as well. We have been doing it for quite a few years now, hopefully we can keep doing it. (Scoring runs everywhere on the ground) I don't want to restrict any areas. Just watch the ball and react and express myself. It has been simple for me since day one. As I said before as well, you can't be sure that you will be doing well all the time but the culture we have built in the dressing room is to maximize the powerplay

10:36 PM local time and IST: India win by 127 runs with 35 balls to spare, and clean-sweep the series 3-0! 

Abhishek Sharma 108 (34) | Nitish Kumar Reddy - 3/25 (4)
Ibrahim Zadran 25 (16) | Azmatullah Omarzai - 2/27 (3)

A 31-run opening stand in 3 overs, and that was it. Afghanistan kept losing wickets, the asking rate kept increasing, and the Indian bowling kept showing its might. In the end, Ibrahim Zadran's first series as full-time captain, began with a forgettable loss in this, the final match of the series, against the World Champions! 

India made mistakes in the field. Tilak Varma dropped a simple catch at long-off, Sanju Samson missed a stumping and Nitish Kumar Reddy misfielded twice at point. But that didn't really affect Shreyas Iyer's men, because the bowling was way too strong to get affected by that. 

We got to see a Jasprit Bumrah yorker rattling the stumps, an Axar Patel over with a couple of wickets in there, and a Nitish Kumar Reddy over with three wickets! All of them, were superb, from an Indian point of view, and extremely pleasing. 

Yash Thakur, who got a game today, chipped in with a wicket, and Ravi Bishnoi managed to pick up the other three wickets to seal the deal for India. 

However, the overall batting from Afghanistan was hapless. Shot selection was an issue, temperament was an issue, coping with pressure was an issue and in the end, all those issues compounded to result in a disappointing batting performance. 

The pitch played well. There were runs to be had on it. But India were way too good as a team, to outsmart the Afghanistan team which finished as the semi-finalists of the 2024 T20 World Cup. 

14.1 Ravi Bishnoi to Abdullah Ahmadzai, IT IS ALL OVER! India hammer Afghanistan once again and register one of the most one-sided clean sweeps in recent times, 3-0 to the "visitors" who wil take the Friendship Cup home. Bishnoi gets the final wicket, his third one of the night as Axar takes a simple catch in the deep to seal the deal. Ahmadzai went for a slog into the leg side, the ball was full at the stumps, he skied it and offered a simple catch at deep mid-wicket to Axar who took a few steps forward and gobbled it up. Afghanistan have been skittled out for 94 and they succumb to their biggest defeat in the format as they lose by a massive 127 runs

Nitish Kumar Reddy finishes a worthwhile spell here. Excellent bowling after the first over! His lengths, his lines and his pace, all three, have been quite superb tonight.