IND vs AFG LIVE Score, T20 World Cup 2021 Updates: Shahzad, Zazai open for Afghanistan in 211 chase

Welcome to Sportstar's LIVE coverage of the T20 World Cup 2021 Super 12 match between India and Afghanistan. This is Santadeep Dey, bringing you all the action as it unfolds at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

IND vs AFG LIVE COMMENTARY

AFGHANISTAN INNINGS

AFG in 3 overs: Fuller, slower from Shami and Zazai has been outwitted on that occasion. Dot.

AFG 12/0 in 2 overs: Right on the money - Bumrah starts off with a fiery yorker. An astonishing shot by Zazai next... Digs another yorker out for a flat six. Unbelievable!

AFG 5/0 in 1 over: Shami to go round the wicket to the left-handed Zazai. Played late and beaten. Zazai is up and moving with a boundary. There wasn't a lot of width on offer but Zazai has managed to flat-bat it through the ground past Jadeja. The ball is moving about a bit. Ishan is on the field for Hardik.

Well then... it's time for the India bowlers to walk out and deliver their half of the deal. Zazai and Shahzad make their way to the middle; they have a mountain to climb. Shami has the new ball in hand.

RESULT: AFGHANISTAN NEEDS 211 TO WIN

INDIA INNINGS

IND 210/2 in 20 overs: Pant starts the final over with a boundary - scoops a half-tracker from Hamid. Six! The 200 is up. Pant gets down on one knee, and underneath the bounce... off to the long-on boundary it sails. Hardik gets his feet out of the way of the yorker and somehow manages to pick up a boundary off that as well. This is India's second-highest T20I total. This is also only the second time a team has breached 200 in Abu Dhabi.

IND 194/2 in 19 overs: Straight up in the air... Who's gonna take it? Oops! Zadran has dropped it. Hardik, meanwhile, collides with Shahzad and hits the deck. Nitin has been asked to return to enquire about Hardik. Looks okay to carry on. Six over deep extra cover! Hardik is turning back the clock in Abu Dhabi. Stand and deliver! Hardik goes downtown to bring up the highest score in the tournament already.

IND 175/2 in 18 overs: Hardik cuts loose; dug out and flicked towards the cow corner. Hamid is getting hammered all across - Hardik picks up two more boundaries. Bad news! Hardik has been hit on the right elbow. Nitin Patel, team physio, has been summoned.

IND 160/2 in 17 overs: The Zingers light up! Rahul looks to attempt the ramp but the ball misses everything to go on to break the wood. Pant gets two back-to-back maximums. The one-handed slice comes into play each time as Gulbadin pitches it in the slot twice.

IND 145/1 in 16 overs: Afghanistan goes upstairs for the wicket of Pant. There's no bat involved but the ball was pitching outside leg. Spot on by umpire Paul Reiffel!

Meanwhile, BCCI has just announced Rahul Dravid as the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team. READ MORE HERE.

India opts for the review now after Pant goes for a reverse sweep but misses. The ball goes on to hit the pads and the umpire raises his finger. Pant survives! Turns out there was some glove onto it en route.

IND 142/1 in 15 overs: Janat is into the attack. Starts off with a short one and has been put away by Rahul. Straight into the hands of Nabi at extra cover! This is the wicket Afghanistan had been searching for. A wonderful innings by Rohit comes to an end. This is now the highest partnership for India in T20 WCs. Pant walks in.

IND 135/0 in 14 overs: "Catch it!" is the call but the ball dips well short of the fielder at deep mid-wicket. Rohit is not happy with himself. Dispatched in disdain! Rohit shimmies down the track, picks out the googly to send it into the stands. Slog swept over square leg next; Rashid is bearing the brunt.

IND 119/0 in 13 overs: Classy! Inside out over extra cover goes Rahul to bring up his fifty as well. His 13th in T20I; first in a T20 WC. Rashid makes a good stop at mid-wicket to deny Rohit another boundary. Gulbadin aims the last one at Rahul's pads and it has been flicked away. Four more.

IND 107/0 in 12 overs: Afghanistan decides not to review a 'not out' decision by the umpire. Rohit gets a fifty off 37 balls; cuts one with finesse and the fielder only helps it parry to the boundary with a poorly-executed dive. Rahul goes all the way now, targeting the shorter side of the boundary, to bring up the fourth T20I century partnership between Rohit and himself. And again! Naveen's slower ball runs away to the fence again.

IND 91/0 in 11 overs: Gulbadin's first ball has been gently caressed on the offside. Brilliant field awareness by Rohit as he guides the ball down third man. This is now Rohit's highest score in his last 10 T20 WC innings (2014-2021). Rahul has been hit on the ribs. That must have hurt but he signals he is okay to carry on with a nod at Rohit.

IND 85/0 in 10 overs: Rashid's back and Rohit sweeps him away to glory; utilises the pace to find the fence with the fine leg fielder in the circle. Rohit goes for the reverse-paddle but the pace is not just enough to take it to the ropes. Three runs. Time for the drinks break. The projected score is 196.

IND 73/0 in 9 overs: Sharafuddin replaces Naib. Rahul sets himself and launches the paddle for four behind square leg. Fine running between the batters between the wickets and the left-armer gives away eight in his first over.

IND 65/0 in 8 overs: Rashid Khan with the ball. Now, here's the competition! Rashid starts with his traditional slider that skids in. Rahul and Rohit play him out watchfully and sneak in six off his first over.

IND 59/0 in 7 overs: Naib into the attack. There's an evident plan for the bowler here. He rushes in the deliveries to Rahul who scythes it to deep point. Naib cuts down on pace against Rohit who is forced to keep his anchor down.

Rohit Sharma powers India past 50 in the Powerplay.   -  GETTY IMAGES

IND 53/0 in 6 overs: Top stuff from Hamid! Rohit is caught in the blockhole and Hamid pushes the ball deep into the crease consistently. Rohit fails to nudge it off for runs and Hamid gives away just a single at the end of the Powerplay.

IND 52/0 in 5 overs: The Hitman's on fire! Naveen is sliced past point for four and Rohit then flakes him over long-off for six! Wow, he's playing with the bowler's mind here. Rohit shuffles across and back this time he slams him over extra cover for another four. Fifty up for India in the Powerplay.

IND 35/0 in 4 overs: Another change - Hamid to bowl. Gets to pitch it at the blockhole, cramping Rohit. This promises to be a lip-smacking contest!

IND 30/0 in 3 overs: Player of the match in the previous game, Naveen has been introduced into the attack. The slow cutter sticks to the ground and Rohit, unable to connect on this occasion, shakes his head in frustration. Through the gap and four... Change of pace from the seamer, but it was too short and slow.

IND 23/0 in 2 overs: Slow left-armer Sharafuddin, who has come into the squad in place of Asghar Afghan, will be sharing the new ball. With Hamid at short fine placed quite square, Rohit craftily uses the pace to find the gap. Rahul responds to the crowd's calls with a monstrous six over mid-on. This is his first maximum in this tournament. He follows it up with a four through the same area.

IND 7/0 in 1 over: Rahul gets off the mark with a nudge towards mid-wicket for a single. Rohit is up and running too with another flick for a run. Rohit gets a boundary off the last delivery, with a lofted drive through mid-off.

Rohit and Rahul to open for India. Afghanistan is sporting a red kit tonight and will have Nabi to bowl the first over. Let's play!

- 6:24 PM: Time for the national anthems. Afghanistan is up first.

- 6:18 PM: From our correspondent Ayan Acharya in Abu Dhabi: "Warmups underway in Abu Dhabi. Mohammad Nabi gets a loud applause from a section of Afghanistan fans as he limbers up. R. Ashwin and Jadeja rolling their arms."

WHAT THEY SAID

Virat Kohli: The situation is a tricky one. Having said that, there's still a chance. We as a team will look at that chance and try to play positive cricket. We know we haven't played up to potential whatever the reasons might be. Need to brush that aside. Would have bowled first. But it's not a bad thing against a side like Afghanistan who look to put up runs on the board. Couple of changes - Surya is back as he's fit. Ashwin replaces Varun who has a bit of a niggle.

Mohammad Nabi: We will bowl first. In the last game, there was a lot of dew in the second half so we want India to bat. Mujeeb isn't playing. We always prepare for both batting and bowling.

IND vs AFG PLAYING XI

India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

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

IND vs AFG TOSS

Afghanistan has won the toss and elected to field.

IND vs AFG PITCH REPORT

IND vs AFG PREVIEW

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, was called the sleeping giant in the startup business ecosystem till not so long ago. It will be interesting to see if the sleeping giant of the ICC T20 World Cup - Team India - wake up at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

After the loss to New Zealand in Dubai, India skipper Virat Kohli said the batters were not brave enough. It will not be easy this time around as well. Keeping in mind the fall of Kabul and the political turmoil that hampered preparations, Afghanistan has been a competitive side in the T20 World Cup.

In recent times, Afghanistan has emerged as one of the most fearless cricket teams in the international T20 arena. Not only did it secure direct qualification to the World Cup but has also notched up the highest total of the tournament (190) so far in its first game.

READ | Afghanistan's Ashraf approved as replacement for retired Asghar

The burly Afghan batters will be itching to deploy the long handle against a bowling line-up that has only one wicket-taker so far. India struggled against the New Zealand spinners, which will make Rashid Khan and Co. confident heading into the game.

It will also be interesting to see if Hardik Pandya fits into the squad and Suryakumar Yadav returns, along with Ishan Kishan. The experiment to let Ishan open with K.L. Rahul failed against the Kiwis. The rejigged middle-order could not deliver either. It remains to be seen if India sticks to any of the two previous combinations.

The bowling group has had its back against the wall. Jasprit Bumrah had little support. Varun Chakaravarthy failed to deceive either Pakistan or New Zealand batters with his mystery spin. India could field leg-spinner Rahul Chahar or veteran off-spinner R. Ashwin against the Afghans.

The road to the semifinal is all but blocked. A win on Wednesday can help the fans and statisticians keep their interest alive in India's campaign.

- Amol Karhadkar

IND vs AFG PREDICTED XI

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin

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

IND vs AFG DREAM11 PREDICTION

Wicketkeeper – Mohammad Shahzad

Batters – Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (c), Najibullah Zadran

All-rounders – Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Nabi

Bowlers – Jasprit Bumrah, Rashid Khan (vc), Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Mohammad Shami

Team Composition: IND 6:5 AFG Credits left: 0.5

IND vs AFG WIN PREDICTION

India (77%)

IND vs AFG HEAD-TO-HEAD STATS

Span: 2010-2021

Matches: 2

Won: India - 2, Afghanistan - 0

In T20 WCs: India - 2, Afghanistan - 0

Highest Score (IND) vs AFG: 159

Lowest Score (IND) vs AFG: 116

Highest Score (AFG) vs IND: 136

Lowest Score (AFG) vs IND: 115

Vikram Rathour: India's focus only on winning vs Afghanistan, semifinal calculations later

KEY PLAYERS (IN T20 WC 2021)

IND vs AFG SQUADS

India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami

Reserves: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Axar Patel; Mentor: MS Dhoni

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (w), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Hamid Hassan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Usman Ghani, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Fareed Ahmad, Sharafuddin Ashraf

WHERE TO WATCH T20 WORLD CUP 2021 IND vs AFG LIVE?

The India vs Afghanistan match will be aired LIVE on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Telugu and Star Sports 1 Kannada. The match will also be live streamed on Hotstar.

*All timings are as per the Indian Standard Time (IST).