T20 World Cup: India take on Afghanistan in survival battle

IT is not often that the cricketing world witnesses such a situation. India, ranked No.3 in T20 Internationals, will take on Afghanistan, ranked seven, in a battle of survival in the ongoing T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Virat Kohli’s men have lost both the matches they have played in the tournament so far -- by Pakistan and New Zealand – and they will now require wins in their remaining three games as well as some luck to make the last four from Group 2.

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The Afghans, on the other hand, have beaten Scotland and Namibia and gave Pakistan a tough fight before losing. They are the second best-placed team in the points table with four from three games. Pakistan have already qualified and the second berth is open between Afghanistan, New Zealand and India. The Afghans have a superior net run-rate of 3.097, thanks to their dominant wins.

New Zealand beat India by 8 wickets in T20 World Cup

Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi in action against Pakistan at the T20 World Cup at Dubai International Stadium on October 29, 2021 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

If India lose against Afghanistan at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, their campaign will be officially over.

India have won both their T20 games against Afghanistan so far and both have come in the World Cups. However, Afghanistan will remember the match against India in the 2019 World Cup (50-over) in which they restricted India to a modest total and came very close to winning the game.

A win over India on Wednesday will take Afghanistan very close to the semi-final berths, something they haven’t done yet.

Both teams, however, will be looking to win the toss. Even though Afghanistan have won both their games so far batting first, captain Mohammad Naib would be happy to put India into bat after winning the toss as Kohli’s batters have struggled on slower pitches in this World Cup, especially in the first half.

The match begins at 7.30 pm India time (2 pm London time). In another match of the day, New Zealand will take on Scotland in Dubai.

Probable Playing XIs

India: Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy/Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wicket-keeper), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mohammad Nabi (captain), Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Hamid Hassan, Naveen-ul-Haq