To avoid early elimination from the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup, both India and Afghanistan will be desperate for a win in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. With no points and a net run rate of -1.609, India need to win everything, preferably by big margins, and still count on results of other matches.
The Indians have been off colour with both bat and ball in their two matches. After losing the all-important toss on both occasions the openers, failed to get going, the middle order looked clueless, and the bowlers failed to build pressure. The players appeared jaded after a packed season of cricket.
For this match, the Indian think-tank may make a few changes in their middle order. Ishan Kishan, who played against New Zealand in place of Suryakumar Yadav and opened batting, is likely to be slotted in the middle order, keeping his wonderful track record against Rashid Khan in mind.
Suryakumar, who missed the New Zealand game due to a back spasm, is available for selection. The management may contemplate playing him XI ahead of Hardik Pandya, who had failed to impress with both bat and ball so far.
Among bowlers, R. Ashwin has been in the scheme of things. But whether the management play him ahead of Varun Chakravarthy or one of the seamers, is remained to be seen.
Afghanistan have the best win-loss ratio in T20Is. In this World Cup, they have annihilated both Scotland and Namibia, and came tantalisingly close to beating Pakistan. A win against an out-of-form India boost their chances of reaching the semi-finals.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who missed the game against Namibia due to an injury, is fit to take the field in spin-friendly conditions in Abu Dhabi. Usman Ghani, on the other hand, is the likeliest to replace Asghar Afghan, who retired after the previous match.
Likely XIs
India: Rohit Sharma, K.L. Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, R. Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Usman Ghani, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan, Naveen-ul-Haq
Fantasy tips
- Back the top three Indian batters to get into the groove and score some runs tonight.
- Kishan has a decent track record against Rashid, Nabi and Mujeeb. So do have him in the squad.
- Shahzad slammed a hundred when India last played Afghanistan in the UAE, in the 2018 Asia Cup. You can back him to go after the Indian bowlers up front.