Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has questioned Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy after the Indian skipper handed the final over of the first T20I against Afghanistan to all-rounder Shivam Dube.

India eventually registered a comfortable seven-wicket victory at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday, chasing down Afghanistan’s 156-run target with 38 balls to spare. However, Dube’s expensive final over became one of the major talking points from Afghanistan’s innings.

Mohammad Kaif questions Shreyas Iyer’s bowling tactics

India used seven bowlers during Afghanistan’s innings, with Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma and Dube also getting an opportunity with the ball.

While India’s frontline attack kept Afghanistan under pressure for most of the innings, the visitors recovered through Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi. Omarzai played an aggressive knock of 64, while Nabi contributed 33 as the pair added 83 runs.

With India’s main bowlers having completed their spells by the 19th over, Iyer turned to Dube for the final six deliveries. The decision backfired as Afghanistan collected 21 runs from the over.

Kaif felt the timing of Dube’s introduction was the biggest problem.

The former India batter argued that if Iyer wanted to use part-time bowlers, they should have been brought into the attack earlier, particularly when Afghanistan were five wickets down and the middle order was still settling.

Kaif was particularly critical of the decision to trust Dube with the most demanding over of the innings.

He pointed out that Dube does not regularly bowl three overs for his IPL franchise and questioned why he was given the responsibility of bowling against a set Omarzai in the final over.

“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. You should bring part-timers there. So, you have to decide who to use where. You have played part-timers, not proper all-rounders,” Kaif said on Cricbuzz.

According to him, death overs should generally be entrusted to specialist bowlers such as Jasprit Bumrah or Arshdeep Singh, rather than a part-time option.

“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. Here, the one facing the last over was Omarzai, who was already set after scoring his fifty. You are using Dube against him, so I think there must have been some mistake in the calculations. This was not a match where seven bowlers needed to be used. Five bowlers were enough,” Kaif added.

The criticism comes after Dube’s recent struggles with the ball. He had also conceded 22 runs in the final stages of India’s fifth T20I against England earlier in 2026, while his bowling figures in recent matches have raised questions about how frequently he should be used.

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India start Afghanistan series with comfortable win

Despite the late bowling concerns, India produced an impressive overall performance in the opening T20I.

Afghanistan were reduced to 41/4 during the powerplay after being asked to bat first. Omarzai and Nabi then rebuilt the innings, but Arshdeep Singh struck in the closing stages to finish with excellent figures of 3/19.

India’s chase was even more emphatic. Abhishek Sharma smashed a breathtaking 82 off just 32 balls, while Ishan Kishan added 42 to put the hosts firmly in control.

India eventually reached the target with 38 deliveries remaining, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

For Iyer, the win will undoubtedly be the priority, but Kaif’s comments have placed renewed attention on India’s bowling rotation. With the remaining matches against Afghanistan approaching, the captain may have to reconsider when and how he uses Dube, particularly during the crucial death overs.

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