Delhi T20I Against Afghanistan Set to Proceed Amid BRICS Security Concerns

For a few tense hours, India’s first T20I against Afghanistan in New Delhi looked like it might lose its date to geopolitics.

With the BRICS Summit tightening security across the Capital, the Arun Jaitley Stadium fixture had been pushed into uncertainty. Delhi Police, staring at a packed security roster around the high-profile meet, raised concerns and explored the option of shifting the game by a day.

Cricket, for once, seemed secondary to motorcades and delegations.

That cloud lifted on Thursday evening.

The Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) moved quickly to calm nerves, confirming that the opening T20I on Sunday, 13 September, will go ahead as originally planned. The association announced that after discussions with the Delhi Traffic Police, it had received assurances on “all necessary support and arrangements” to stage the match safely.

The brief statement did the job. No change of venue. No change of date. No change of plans for the thousands who had already circled Sunday on their calendars.

The city will now juggle two very different spectacles on the same weekend: the closed-door choreography of a diplomatic summit, and the floodlit noise of an international T20 under the stands at Arun Jaitley Stadium.