Shreyas Iyer's captaincy in the first T20I against Afghanistan has been questioned by former India player Aakash Chopra. He emphasized that if Shivam Dube was given the responsibility of bowling the innings' last over, he would undoubtedly get attacked.

On Sunday, September 13, India restricted Afghanistan to 156/8 in Delhi despite Dube going wicketless and giving up 21 runs in the one over he bowled. India then took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after achieving the target with seven wickets in hand and 38 balls remaining, thanks to Abhishek Sharma’s quick-fire 82 runs.

In the absence of Hardik Pandya, Aakash Chopra believed that India had a fifth-bowler problem and questioned why Shreyas kept Dube back until the final over of the innings.

"A slight flaw is being seen in India's T20 cricket, and probably Shreyas Iyer's tactic is also being seen. Since Hardik isn't there, who is the fifth bowler? You got Nitish Kumar Reddy to bowl, made Abhishek Sharma bowl an over, and you made Shivam Dube bowl an over, but that Shivam Dube over was the 20th over.

If you are going to give him the 20th over, he will get hit, and it happened here as well—21 runs. In fact, our fifth bowler conceded 59 runs in four overs. If your fifth bowler is conceding 15 an over, this is a potential problem. Half the things get sorted out as soon as Hardik comes. However, Shreyas Iyer is holding an over back until the last over—we will find out over a period of time how good that tactic is, but there is a slight problem for sure," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

Nitish Reddy went for 30 runs in his two overs, and Abhishek Sharma gave away 8 runs in the only over he bowled.

Aakash Chopra praised Jasprit Bumrah for dealing a critical blow by eliminating Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the opening over while considering the other Indian bowlers in the same video.

"Afghanistan thought they could do what Ireland did to India, but that thinking was dashed as they lost wickets one after the other. Jasprit Bumrah came and got an outside edge in the first over itself, and the guy was sent out. Rahmanullah Gurbaz going out was a massive blow," he said.

Chopra was praiseful of the bowling performances by Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel, and Varun Chakaravarthy.

"At one stage, they were 43/5. The situation was very bad. Whoever was coming was going. Arshdeep was once again accurate and amongst the wickets. Then when Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy came, they also picked up a wicket apiece. It didn't seem like Afghanistan was able to make the match, but then there was a partnership. Azmatullah Omarzai hit a half-century, and Mohammad Nabi scored runs," Chopra observed.

Arshdeep Singh picked 3/09 in his four overs, while Bumrah, Patel, and Varun picked one wicket each.