India vs Afghanistan Live Score, T20 World Cup 2021 Today's Match Updates: Afghanistan win the toss and opt to bowl

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

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

Virat Kohli: "The situation is tricky for us, but there's still a chance. We'll focus on that chance, and play as well as we can. We haven't done that recently, but we need to shrug that off now.

We would have bowled first, tried to restrict the team and then chase it down. For us, it's an opportunity to come out and put big runs on the board, on what looks like a fresh pitch.

Suryakumar Yadav is back, he'll bat where he batted in the first match. Varun Chakaravarthy has a niggle, he'll be replaced by R Ashwin."

Afghanistan win the toss and opt to bowl first

"The last game there was a lot of dew, so I think we'll bowl first. Mujeeb isn't playing. The team is in a good shape, we've practised a lot. We'll play cricket normally and enjoy it." - Mohammad Nabi

ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 Points table, team, venue, schedule

Click here to check out the points table for the T20 World Cup.

From beacons of hope to symbols of pride - Afghanistan's soul-stirring journey

Last Sunday, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi witnessed the end of an era in Afghanistan cricket. Without warning, in the middle of the T20 World Cup, a former captain announced his retirement from the international stage. Such dramatic calls often point to a discord within the side, a seemingly irrevocable fractious divide.

It might be a while yet before the exact reason behind Asghar Afghan’s premature, abrupt departure is known, but it can be said without equivocation that he wasn’t nudged out because of dressing-room frictions. Afghanistan’s first Test captain is widely loved and revered within the contours of the team and beyond. As the tears flowed copiously and unchecked, Gulbadin Naib hoisted Afghan on his shoulders in scenes reminiscent of Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble’s last days in international cricket.

Click here to read more of R Kaushik's piece on Afghanistan's journey.

Virat Kohli shouldn’t take Afghanistan lightly, they are no pushovers

It has been a rude shock for all sports fans, including pundits like me, but this is the nature of the beast called T20 cricket — a wonderful format that gives David a chance to slay the Goliath! This is not to undermine the stature and performance of New Zealand, who have been a top-class team in all formats of the game.

But the hype and hoopla around Team India had created a narrative that the World Cup was ours for the taking. Reality is in front of us. The stark reality where Team India finds it difficult to even qualify for the semi-finals! We might have the stars, but on the day what matters is what you dish out and what India dished out was unpalatable, to say the least.

Click here to read more of Atul Wassan's take on the match.

India seek solutions to batting woes in must-win game against Afghanistan

India's batting order appears to be in a significant degree of disarray at the moment, the most telling sign of which was the fact that Kohli opted to use different openers in both of the matches played so far. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul opened proceedings for India against Pakistan, but a few days later, Rohit was moved down into third, with Ishan Kishan opening alongside Rahul instead. Kohli mentioned that this change was a forced one, a stop-gap measure enacted because Suryakumar Yadav was suffering from back spasms, and it very much looked so, with the top-order batters crumbling against New Zealand.

Click here to read more of the main talking points ahead of tonight's match.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of the T20 World Cup!

India take on Afghanistan in the Group 2 Super 12 match at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. India would look to bounce back hard after two defeats in two matches in the T20 World Cup so far. It's going to be really difficult to qualify for the semis. They need to win their remaining three matches and hope the other decisions go their way. Stay tuned for all the latest updates, live score and more from this do-or-die match!