India vs Afghanistan LIVE Cricket Score: Afghanistan opted to bowl against India in an all-important Super 12 game of the ICC T20 World Cup here on Wednesday. Ravichandran Ashwin will play his first white ball game in four years in place of injured Varun Chakravarthy, who has a left-calf issue while Suryakumar Yadav, having recovered from back spasm, is back in pace of Ishan Kishan.
India will be hoping to bring their floundering campaign back on track after two crushing defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand when it takes on a feisty Afghanistan. Against Afghanistan, the middle-overs, during which Rashid Khan operates, will be crucial. Afghanistan have expectedly won their two games against Scotland and Namibia and were in the contest against Pakistan for the better part before Asif Ali took the game away with four sixes in one over.
India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
Afghanistan Squad: 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
Hamid in to bowl the 4th over. Can he save some runs and check these Indian batters? Makes a good start. Just 3 off the first four balls. Well, he did whatever he was brought on for. 5 off this over. IND 35/0 after 4 overs.
Naveen to bowl the 3rd over. One dot and 2 singles to start the first 3 balls. And the 5th ball is sent straight to the boundary. In the gap. The change of pace does not help. Rohit nails the pull over midwicket. 7 off the over. IND 30/0 after 3 overs.
Oh well placed. Pre-meditated lap sweep from Rohit. He was down early, the ball was at a length outside off. He gets on one knee and angles it fine. Looks like Hamid Hassan was the man at short fine. The ball was away from him quickly. Sharafuddin is having a pretty rough time. And that one is hit for a massive 6. Rahul nails it. Clears the front leg and swings this handsomely over mid-on and about 83 metres deep. And it ends with a four. Just the start India wanted. IND 23/0 after 2 overs.
Rahul and Rohit are at the crease. Rahul is on strike. Nabi will open the attack. And Rohit ends with a four in the first over. IND 7/0 after 1 over.
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
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
The coin goes up. Afghanistan has won the toss and sent India to bat first.
- With an average score of 51, Afghanistan have been the best batting side in PowerPlays during this Super 12 phase.
- India have just hit three boundaries in 16 overs of spin this tournament and scored their runs at a rate of 4.75-
In 18 T20s (IPL T20Is) in 2021, Hardik Pandya's strike-rate has dipped to a low 118.43 with a best of 40*
India 2 - 0 Afghanistan. Both the games were played at T20 World Cups in 2010 and 2012. In one match, India batted first and won and in the other, they batted second and came out victorious. Will be curious to see what they choose this time.