In the immediate aftermath of the 2026 T20 World Cup, India found themselves grappling with problems rarely associated with it. That the undisputed champions of the format — a status underlined by both the trophy and their position atop the ICC rankings — went seven consecutive games without a win, before the redemption in Zimbabwe, was surprising enough. Perhaps more surprising still was that spin, of all facets of the game, had become India’s Achilles’ heel.At the World Cup, few had found answers to Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel. On home soil, the leggie and left-arm orthodox spinner shared 25 wickets between them at 8.8 and 19.68. In stark contrast, their combined numbers dropped to 12 wickets at 10.58 and 44.09 in the following five months. It will have come as a relief, then, that the pair looked back to their best on their return to home conditions, technicalities aside, as India beat Afghanistan by seven wickets in the first of a three-match T20I series on Sunday at the Arun Jaitley StadiumPrior to the game, the national song, Vande Mataram was played before the national anthem. Once those were done, the national treasure, Jasprit Bumrah announced his return. And all it took him was three attempts, and two legal deliveries. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, undone by the bounce, fell for his 11th T20I duck. Even so, with the next couple of overs yielding 22 runs, it briefly looked as though Afghanistan might stake their claim as Asia’s second-best side.The procession of wickets began in the fourth over — when Axar was introduced, although the first wicket stemmed not from his spin, but a mix-up between Ibrahim Zadran and Sediqullah Atal. It cost the Afghan captain his wicket, while Atal departed five deliveries later.At 39/3 after five overs, Afghanistan could have used a few loose deliveries to settle into. Instead, they were met with a sustained spell of precise, unrelenting spin. The next four overs brought just 11 runs and two more wickets — Axar accounting for Gulbadin Naib, Varun for Darwish Rasooli.By then, Afghanistan were playing for pride, and found some in an 83-run sixth-wicket stand between Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai. In particular, the latter impressed with his unbeaten 44-ball 64, courtesy of which Afghanistan posted a total of 157.The all-rounder struck four fours and as many sixes, but neither of those came against Varun. Axar did concede a couple of wickets, but he also should have had Omarzai’s wicket to his name, if not for Ishan Kishan dropping a regulation catch. Between them, the two spinners returned 43/2 from eight overs at an economy of 5.37. Arshdeep Singh was convincing, finishing with 4-0-19-3.Story continues below this adThe redemption arc, however, did not come as a two-man act. but in a tripartite. Abhishek Sharma arrived under scrutiny over his form, having managed just 40 runs across his previous six innings. Following the series against Zimbabwe, where he scored 11 in three T20Is, the southpaw had written on Instagram “The game always rewards those who keep showing up.”Today, Abhishek showed up.India had surprisingly taken Vaibhav Sooryavanshi off the firing line after performances against Zimbabwe that made him worthy of the player of the series award. His replacement, Sanju Samson, did little to quiet the debate, falling for 10 off eight balls.Yet the chase never once looked anything but comfortable, with India cruising on autopilot courtesy of Abhishek, who struck 82 off 32 balls — 70 of those runs coming in boundaries alone.For the tango, though, it took two — the supporting act being played by Ishan Kishan. Fresh off a Duleep Trophy victory as East Zone’s captain, Ishan Kishan can do no wrong in this phase of career, and there was hardly anything wrong about his 33-ball 42 anchor-job today.Story continues below this adHaving lost six of their 10 T20I fixtures since the T20 World Cup, and their only victories coming against Zimbabwe, India could scarcely have asked for a more emphatic performance. If there is a note of caution, it is the fifth-bowler question in Hardik Pandya’s absence: Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma and Shivam Dube combined to leak 59 runs in four overs.For a series named the ‘Friendship Cup’, though, India could perhaps offer the hosts some respite amid 16 overs of unrelenting pressure.Brief Scores: Afghanistan 156/8 in 20 overs (Azmatullah Omarzai 64 n.o.; Arshdeep Singh 3/19) lost to India 157/3 in 13.4 overs (Abhishek Sharma 82; Mohammad Nabi 2/28) by 7 wickets