It had been an early finish in Delhi, but head coach Richard Pybus looked tired at the post-match press conference. Afghanistan had just lost their opening T20I against India. The margin of defeat was more of a gulf: India had won with seven wickets and 38 balls to spare in their chase of 156.
"What went wrong," he repeated after a question was asked about Afghanistan's struggle against spin. "We lost four wickets in four overs."
Pybus might have misremembered, not that it was critical. For the record, before Axar Patel removed Gulbadin Naib in the sixth over, Afghanistan had lost three. Of them, Ibrahim Zadran had been run out off the bowling of Axar. Axar and Varun Chakravarthy picked up one apiece.
The bigger issue was Axar and Varun conceding a combined 43 runs from their eight overs.
"We made fundamental mistakes; we'll be reviewing that," Pybus said. "We've got to be a lot more precise in our fundamentals. You know, I wouldn't cast any doubt on our intent and our desire, but our execution was… I think the boys will be disappointed with that."
In Axar's first over, the fourth of the game, Afghanistan captain Ibrahim worked a length delivery to deep midwicket and took for a non-existent second run and then slipped while turning around. Ishan Kishan ran him out with an accurate throw. It was the beginning of an evening of unforced errors that proved costly for Afghanistan.
"That run out was the turning point," Ibrahim said after the game on the broadcast. "They got the momentum [from that point]; there were two more wickets…"
Afghanistan did pounce when India were less-than-perfect too, with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shivam Dube going at an economy rate of 17. From 41 for 4, then 43 for 5, Afghanistan snuck their way back into the contest with an 83-run partnership between Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi, which got them up to 156 for 8. Impressive, but not nearly enough on the night, with India - powered by Abhishek Sharma's 32-ball 82 - crossing the target in just 13.4 overs.
"When I talk about us actually being able to execute, it is about assessing conditions," Pybus said. "It's about us being able to read the wicket and get partnerships going. But I also need to be fair to my guys. It's our first outing for quite a long time [Afghanistan last played a T20I at the World Cup, back in February] and we've been rain-affected here in terms of our preparation." It drizzled through the weekend in Delhi, curtailing Afghanistan's practice sessions on Friday as well as Saturday.
"So I think it's important for us to get into the rhythm of the series. Obviously, you want to win the first game. But I need to be fair to the guys and give them the opportunity for us to work through the series and see how we adapt."
Pybus was announced as Afghanistan's new head coach in February this year after Jonathan Trott exited from the role. Pybus has the experience, he has coached the national teams of Pakistan and Bangladesh and held senior coaching positions across the world.
"It is what it is," Pybus said about his latest challenge: working with Afghanistan's sparse T20I calendar in 2026. The lack of game time means he is still getting to know this squad.
"We've got Naveen[-ul-Haq] who's been coming back from a long-term injury, so we need to manage him." The fast bowler was set to play for Afghanistan after a gap of two years, but at the toss, Ibrahim mentioned that he was not match fit yet.
"It's the first time I've been with Naveen and Fazalhaq [Farooqi] and Abdullah [Ahmadzai] in this format. So it's about getting to know the bowlers and going to work on them. And I need to be fair to them."
On the plus side, Pybus did get a first glimpse at Omarzai's all-round acumen in Delhi. The 26-year-old scored an unbeaten 44-ball 64, and then took Sanju Samson's wicket.
"He's got fantastic striking capability," was his coach's assessment. "He's got the ability to be able to judge length very quickly. He can hit the ball off the top of the bounce against the spinners and the seamers. And I think we've seen whenever he's played for Afghanistan and through the World Cups, he's good under pressure."
Afghanistan will play their remaining two matches against India in Delhi too, on September 15 and 17.
"The reality is, you know, we're here in this series. I think we've got a really good line-up of spin bowlers. Many of them are experienced in these conditions," Pybus said. "The issue tonight for me was the batting. We were considerably short of the type of target we should have been able to set. Again, it's not the lack of skill.
"It's about us getting our game together and executing."
