India vs Afghanistan, Asia Cup Live Score: Afghanistan Off To A Solid Start Against India

Having already sealed their place in the final of the Asia Cup with successive wins over Bangladesh and Pakistan, defending champions India will now face a resurgent Afghanistan in the final match of the Super Four stage at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. On Sunday, India made a mockery of Pakistan's below-par target of 237 with the opening duo of skipper Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan stitching together a 210-run stand to guide the Men-in-Blue to a 9-wicket win en-route the September 28 final. India had earlier defeated Bangladesh in their first Super 4 match, to remain as the only unbeaten team in the tournament so far. Going into Tuesday's tie, India will be aiming to continue their dominance over the Asian newbies, who have managed to give a tough fight in their narrow defeats to the likes of Pakistan and Bangladesh in their Super Four clashes. While Pakistan managed to win a last-over thriller over the Afghans by 3 wickets, Bangladesh on Sunday pipped Afghanistan by 3 runs to set up a virtual semi-final with Pakistan on Wednesday. (LIVE SCORECARD) (Play fantasy league and win cash daily)

Live Updates of India vs Afghanistan, 2018 Asia Cup ODI match straight from Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai

17:36 IST: Bowling change for India. Ravindra Jadeja replaces Siddharth Kaul.

17:34 IST: Afghanistan 48/0 after 7 overs vs India.

17:31 IST: SIX!! Shahzad is not slowing down. Khaleel goes wide and full, Shahzad walks across the wicket, clears his front leg and slams the ball straight down the ground for a maximum.

17:27 IST: FOUR!! Kaul goes full and wide, Shahzad frees his arms and swings his bat hard as the ball pierces the fielders in the cover and races away to the boundary. That was struck firmly.

17:26 IST: Siddarth Kaul is introduced in the attack. Kaul hasn't picked up any wicket in the ODIs as of now. Could this game get his first ODI wicket?

17:24 IST: Khaleel Ahmed bowls a maiden over. Afghanistan 35/0 after 5 overs.

17:21 IST: FOUR!! Deepak Chahar bowls a short delivery and Shahzad pulls him for a boundary. 17 runs off the over. This is not the start the youngster would've had in his mind. However, this was an eventful over.

17:20 IST: SIX!! Chahar goes full and Shahzad clears his front-leg and mauls the ball over deep mid-wicket for the first maximum of the match.

17:19 IST: It is not getting easy for Chahar in the middle, he bowls another wide. Free-hit stays.

17:18 IST: FREE-HIT stays as Chahar bowls a slower bouncer. Shahzad waits and tries but fails to connect.

17:16 IST: Afghanistan get a free-hit as Chahar bowls a beamer. It looks like the ball slipped out of Chahr's hand and Shahzad was taken aback.

17:10 IST: FOUR!! Khaleel goes full and Shahzad lifts him straight down the ground to start the over with a boundary. That was some display of power from Shahzad.

17:09 IST: Afghanistan 13/0 after the second over.

17:08 IST: Mohammad Shahzad takes three! He flicks the length ball towards the deep. Good running between the wicket from the Afghanistan openers.

17:07 IST: FOUR!! Shahzad comes down the track and slices the wide off ball over point for a boundary. Chahar had begun with three dot balls and the pressure was building on the Afghanistan opener. He takes the risk and gets a positive result.

17:06 IST: Deepak Chahar, the debutant, in the attack from the other end.

17:05 IST: Afghanistan 6/0 after the first over.

17:03 IST: FOUR!! Khaleel bowls short and Shahzad, who was looking to get his bat away from the line of the ball, gets an edge as the ball flies over the slip for the first boundary of the match. Shahzad was lucky.

17:02 IST: Afghanistan get their first runs on board as Khaleel Ahmed bowls a wide.

17:00 IST: Alright! Khaleel Ahmed starts the proceedings for India. Mohammad Shahzad and Javed Ahmadi opening the batting for Afghanistan.

16:55 IST: Both teams are on the ground and the pre-match rituals are underway.

16:43 IST: Afghanistan playing XI: Mohammad Shahzad (w), Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan (c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Gulbadin Naib, Aftab Alam, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

16:40 IST: Team India playing XI: Lokesh Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (w/c), Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Siddarth Kaul, Kuldeep Yadav, K Khaleel Ahmed.

Here's our Playing XI for the game. Deepak Chahar makes his ODI debut for #TeamIndia.#INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/82vVKQB5PG

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 25, 2018

16:35 IST: Dhoni -- We were looking to bowl first. Quite a few changes. Both the openers are missing, Bhuvi, Bumrah, and Chahal are also missing. Everybody who hadn't played in this tournament gets a chance. They are part of the 15 and are representing India. We'll have to keep the intensity up. It is important for them to adjust to the line and length they need to bowl. I was not really sure of where I am standing. I have captained 199 ODIs, so this gives me an opportunity to make it 200. It's all destiny and I always believed in that. It's not in my control, once I left captainship. Good to complete 200, but I don't think it really matters.

MS Dhoni - 200th ODI as Captain of #TeamIndia #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/4PWQNzVgiA

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 25, 2018

16:32 IST: Asghar -- We will bat first. Today, the wicket would spin. We have made two changes. We lost two games. Today we will look to play confidently.

16:30 IST: TOSS TIME! Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan wins toss and elects to bat against India.

Guess who's turned up at the toss for #TeamIndia.

Afghanistan wins the toss and elects to bat first #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/mwyKFN7VmS

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 25, 2018

16:25 IST: We are just minutes away from the match, stay tuned. While India will be aiming to extend their winning run in the tournament, Afghanistan will be playing for pride and will be hoping to upset India.

16:23 IST: India's Deepak Chahar will be making his ODI debut.

Proud moment for @chahardeepak as he now becomes the 223rd player to represent #TeamIndia in ODIs pic.twitter.com/QqaAFf5rpV

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 25, 2018

16:15 IST: Hello and welcome to the live blog of the Super Four clash between Indian and Afghanistan straight from Dubai.

Aware of the threat the Afghans could pose, despite being an inconsequential tie for the Men-in-Blue, Rohit Sharma and the team management could opt to rest some of the main players ahead of the final and test the bench. In such a scenario, Lokesh Rahul and Manish Pandey could get a look-in in the middle order while medium pacers Siddharth Kaul and Deepak Chahar could come in to give Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah much-needed rest before the final.

India is unlikely to tickle with their opening combination, which has been a thorn in the opposition's ranks throughout the tournament while the middle order, comprising Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav and Mahendra Singh Dhoni seems to be in decent form. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will lead the spin department that includes the wrist spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

On the other hand, having lost both their Super Four matches so far, Afghanistan are already out of contention for the final but their performances have surely won a million hearts.

Afghanistan will be once again banking on their strong batting to put a big total on the board before unleashing their spin trio of Mohammmed Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan to have a go at the mighty Indian line-up. Afghanistan's one major concern will be their lack of experience to handle high pressure situations, that led them to two narrow losses in the Super Four stage.

With nothing to lose, the Afghans will be aiming to end the tournament on a high but it will surely be a hard nut to crack, considering India's current red-hot form.

Teams:

India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Siddarth Kaul, K. Khaleel Ahmed.

Afghanistan: Asghar Afghan (Captain), Mohammad Shahzad, Ihsanullah Janat, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Najibullah Zadran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Aftab Alam, Samiullah Shenwari, Munir Ahmad, Sayed Shirzad, Sharafuddin Ashraf.