When the dust had settled at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday night, the scoreboard spoke of an emphatic display. India powered past Afghanistan by seven wickets with ease, finishing the third and final T20I clash of the series with a mountain of four full overs to spare.
However, behind the glitzy 13.4-over victory, lies a less happy story. Despite the Men in Blue executing the smart game plan for the majority of the evening, there were a couple of weaknesses that peeked out in the daylight, giving skipper Shreyas Iyer and the management much to ponder.
Three Things India Did Right
1. The Powerplay Stranglehold: Reducing Afghanistan to 43-5
Winning the toss and bowling first under the Delhi lights may not always pay off, but India's bowlers made it rain on the opposition for the best part of an hour on Saturday.
And a disastrous opening spell of just seven overs later, Afghanistan were in trouble, reduced to 43-5 with the tail still wagging.
It started in the very first over as Jasprit Bumrah squared up Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck, and from there on, the batting side couldn't buy a run as skipper Ibrahim Zadran was run out with a strike rate of 0. No one else was in much better shape either as Sediqullah Atal edged Arshdeep Singh behind, Gulbadin Naib miscued Axar Patel, and Varun Chakaravarthy spliced one through to knock over Darwish Rasooli.
2. Arshdeep Singh's Death-Over Masterclass
Every great bowling spell needs a marquee finisher, and nobody delivered better than Arshdeep Singh did after Afghanistan mounted a recovery.
Coming together after he had removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the opening over, Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi put on a stand of 83 to take Afghanistan close to the winning line.
Arshdeep Singh, though, responded by casting aside a six to start the 17th over, and within the next three deliveries, he had Nabi stumped out to pick up his four wickets.
With a masterclass display through the 19th over, the left-arm seamer sent Afghanistan tumbling from 122-4 to 138-8, managing just five runs in the process.
3. Abhishek Sharma's Marauding Blitz
Defending 156 would always require early wickets, and Afghanistan's hopes of pulling off a stunning chase were extinguished in the very first over itself.
Abhishek Sharma struck early as the southpaw clubbed 7 fours and as many sixes in a whirlwind 53-minute stay at the crease, finishing on a score of 82 off just 32 balls.
Ishan Kishan provided the perfect support as he knocked off a fluent 42 off 32 balls, and the two put on a stand of 121 in 53 balls, with a special feature of being run out at the non-striker's end by the wicketkeeper.
Two things India did wrong
1. The 20th over gamble – Why throwing the ball to Dube backfired
For all the credit captain Shreyas Iyer deserved for his astute captaincy in the game, one piece of decision-making that drew criticism from the press box was his decision to cast aside Shivam Dube in the 20th over.
Omarzai and Mujeeb Ur Rahman took full toll of a fresh leg-spinner's lack of rhythm, looting 21 runs off the over on the way to their century partnership.
With Nitish Kumar Reddy also leaking 30 runs in his two spells, India's search for a fifth bowler deep into the series could prove to be a headache.
Also read: Asian Games 2026: 5 India Stars Who Missed 2025 Asia Cup But Can Make A Difference In Japan
2. Sanju Samson's continuing slump
While the batting unit generally functioned smoothly like a well-oiled machine, the night wasn't so kind to Sanju Samson.
Opting for the Kerala stumper over in-form Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, India's management threw their support behind Samson to rediscover his touch. Instead, the 33-year-old could manage only 10 off eight balls, tickling a length delivery to the deep square leg.
Since his exploits in the T20 World Cup earlier in 2026, Samson's graph has steadily dropped with scores of 5, 0, 1, 27 and 10 in consecutive matches.
And with a hungry teenager like Sooryavanshi waiting in the wings, the pressure will mount on the veteran to deliver with every failure.