India captain Shreyas Iyer’s bowling decisions came under scrutiny during the first T20I against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on September 13, 2026. After winning the toss, Iyer opted to bowl first and eventually used seven bowlers during Afghanistan’s innings, including batting all-rounders Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma and Shivam Dube.

While India secured a comfortable seven-wicket victory, Afghanistan recovered from a difficult start to finish on 156/8. Former India batter Mohammad Kaif questioned Iyer’s decision to rely on part-time bowling options, particularly during the crucial stages of the innings.

Dube was handed the final over and conceded 21 runs, allowing Afghanistan to cross the 150-run mark. Mohammad Kaif felt the all-rounder should have been introduced much earlier, rather than being trusted with the final over against a well-set Azmatullah Omarzai.

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“There is a time and place when these part-timers are used. If you want to bring them, bring them earlier, like close to the 10-over mark, when five wickets are already down, and Omarzai and Nabi were new at the crease,” Mohammad Kaif said on Cricbuzz.

According to Mohammad Kaif, India had an opportunity to use Dube when Afghanistan were five wickets down inside the first seven overs. Instead, Iyer waited until the final over, when Omarzai had already settled into his innings and reached his half-century.

Kaif also pointed to Dube’s limited bowling workload at the IPL level and questioned the decision to trust him with such an important over. “These bowlers don’t even bowl 3 overs for their IPL franchises. When have we seen Dube bowl in the IPL? He doesn’t bowl. So, I think giving him the 20th over is a big mistake. The last over is usually bowled by Bumrah or Arshdeep Singh,” he explained.

Dube’s recent numbers further highlight the concern. Since the start of the England T20I series, he had bowled 9.4 overs, conceding 113 runs at an economy rate of 12.02 while taking four wickets. He had also conceded 22 runs in the final over of India’s 2026 T20 World Cup semi-final against England and another 22 runs in the penultimate over of the fifth T20I against England.

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India’s other part-time options also had limited success. Nitish Kumar Reddy conceded 30 runs in two overs, while Abhishek Sharma gave away eight runs from his only over.

Mohammad Kaif ultimately believed India did not need seven bowling options. With Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and the other frontline bowlers available, he argued that five specialist bowlers would have been sufficient. The decision to use Dube in the final over therefore became the biggest tactical talking point despite India’s emphatic victory.