India sweat over Ishan Kishan's fitness after injury scare in nets ahead of 1st IND vs AFG T20I match

Ishan Kishan suffered a back injury scare during India's Delhi nets, forcing him to stop batting ahead of teh first T20I against Afghanistan.

India suffered an injury scare ahead of their T20I series against Afghanistan after wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan hurt his back during a practice session in Delhi on Friday, September 11, raising concerns over his availability for Sunday's series opener. Kishan appeared to pick up the problem while facing Navdeep Saini in the nets. The left-hander attempted to duck underneath a bouncer from the India pacer, who was operating as a net bowler, but immediately appeared to be in discomfort and required attention from the team's physiotherapists.

Ishan Kishan during practice session ahead of the first T20 cricket match between India and Afghanistan. (PTI)

The incident occurred towards the end of Kishan's approximately 45-minute batting session. He did not return to bat afterwards, although the initial signs offered India some encouragement ahead of the first T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on September 13. According to reports, Kishan was able to walk without assistance after receiving treatment. He spent some time sitting on an ice box alongside his teammates before eventually leaving the field on his own. He was also seen having a brief conversation with Saini after the session, with the available visuals suggesting the problem may not be serious.

Kishan in fine touch before injury scare

The setback came after Kishan had looked fluent during his stint in the nets. The wicketkeeper-batter struck the ball cleanly while batting alongside India captain Shreyas Iyer and appeared comfortable before the late injury scare brought his session to a premature end.

Deep Dive

What happened to Ishan Kishan during the practice session before the T20I match against Afghanistan?

Why is Ishan Kishan's fitness crucial for the Indian T20I team ahead of the series against Afghanistan?

How does the Indian team plan to address the batting order if Ishan Kishan is unavailable for the T20I series?

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Kishan's fitness will be closely watched given the role he has established for himself in India's T20I set-up. The Jharkhand batter has accumulated 812 runs from 23 T20 internationals in 2026, the second-highest aggregate by any batter in the format this year.

His injury scare also comes shortly after he joined the national squad following East Zone's Duleep Trophy campaign, where he led the side to the title. India will therefore be hoping the back issue proves to be minor, particularly with Kishan also selected for the country's Asian Games squad that is due to travel to Japan. Elsewhere at India's training session, teenage batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Sanju Samson were seen batting together in another net. The pair are among India's options at the top of the order as the team finalises its combination for the Afghanistan opener.

For now, there has been no official indication that Kishan has been ruled out of Sunday's match. His condition and recovery over the next day are likely to determine whether India need to reconsider their batting and wicketkeeping combination for the first of the T20Is against Afghanistan.