Afghanistan Skipper Mohammad Nabi, has won the toss and made the decision to bat first on Tuesday’s crucial T20 World Cup match against Sri Lanka at the Gabba.
Both teams are still ranked at the bottom of Group 1’s ‘the group of death’ points standings, with Afghanistan in sixth place and Sri Lanka in fifth.
Sri Lanka, which won the Asia Cup 2022 in September after overcoming teams like India and Pakistan on route to the title, would be devastated by their performance at the T20 World Cup thus far.
In the previous game against the Australia they were hammered by Oz all-rounder Marcus Stoinis quick fire innings.
The team will be eager to get back to winning track because they were unable to duplicate the performance. having lost two of their three matches.
On the other side, Afghanistan has yet to register a win in the tournament and will fancy its chances against a Sri Lanka side that has blown hot and cold.
“We will bat first. It is a used pitch. Best to put runs on the board. Everyone is fine. Only Zazai is missing. Naib is in. The last two games were washed out. The weather should be good in the afternoon. Mujeeb gets us early wickets,” said Nabi after winning the toss.
“We would have batted as well. We have one change. It is important to bounce back. We are a good fielding side. We need to lift our confidence on the field. We are still in the competition and we need to win,” said Dasun Shanaka during the toss.
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Usman Ghani, Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis(w), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod Madushan, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha
(inputs from ANI)