Odds are heavily staked in favour of hosts India when they take on Afghanistan in their second ICC World Cup match in the Arun Jaitley Stadium at Ferozeshah Kotla here on Wednesday.
However, the Indians should not become complacent remembering the old cliche that “it is not over till it is over” because Afghanistan is coming to this match with nothing to lose but everything to gain attitude.
Though the Men in Blue have never lost to Afghanistan, the last and only time the two teams faced each other was in the 2019 World Cup when Afghanistan gave them a massive scare as they came very close to ending India’s unbeaten streak before going down by only 11 runs.
This time the two teams are facing each other winning and losing their openers, India after some initial hiccups overwhelmed formidable Australia while Afghanistan opened their campaign with a defeat at the hands of Bangladesh. In fact, Afghanistan has lost six One-Day International matches in a row now and to avoid the seventh successive loss against top-ranked India makes it an even more daunting task.
The pitch here is going to be totally different compared to Chepauk where India won and Dharamshala where Afghanistan lost. Having gone through some extreme pressure moments in their opener, India is unlikely to repeat those mistakes on Wednesday. They will not only be looking for full points but also improving their net run rate which may play a crucial role in deciding the top four places for the semi-finals.
If one goes by the first match played here between South Africa and Sri Lanka when more than 700 runs were amassed, a run feast is expected tomorrow also.
With Shubman Gill ruled out, Ishan Kishan will get another opportunity at the top of the order alongside Rohit. Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s poor shot selection against Australia contributed to India’s disastrous start and for the team and their own sake it is expected that both would be wiser against Afghanistan.
The small ground, where 31 sixes were hammered in the previous game, would also aid Strokeplay. The game will also be a homecoming for chase master Virat Kohli.
Batting in front of the pavilion named after him, Kohli is expected to give his fans another night to remember. On the other hand, KL Rahul has justified the team management’s unwavering confidence in him and he has repaid. He made a fine hundred against Pakistan in his comeback in Asia Cup and on Sunday, remained unbeaten in another high-pressure situation.
Coming from a heavy loss against Bangladesh, Hashmatullah Shahidi and his men will be hoping to put up a decent show. Bowling, mainly spinners, has been Afghanistan’s strong suit over the years, and if they are to make an impact in this World Cup, their batters too must step.
Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz seems to be the only one in top form. An effort of 156 all out against Bangladesh was a poor show and the batters will be looking for immediate course correction. Spinner Mujeeb Zadran usually opens the bowling alongside a pacer while trump card Rashid Khan comes into the attack after the powerplay.
While the teams are forced to take chances against Rashid in the shortest format, batters have time to play him without risk in ODIs. That was evident in the game in Dharamsala where Bangladesh scored 48 runs from his nine overs and did not concede a wicket.
Squads India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill, Shardul Thakur.
Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq.
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