World Cup 2023, IND v AFG: After thrillers in past, confident India eye convincing win over Afghanistan

After a dominant win over 5-time champions Australia, the action for India moves from Chennai to New Delhi as they take on Afghanistan.

Who have managed to win only one World Cup match in their nascent World Cup history. However, India will know very well that they cannot afford to take Hashmatullah Shahidi’s men lightly when the two teams meet in the capital city on Wednesday, October 11.

India began their World Cup 2023 campaign with a 6-wicket win over Australia. After restricting Pat Cummins’s side for 199 on a spin-friendly pitch in Chennai on Sunday, October 8. India were in a spot of bother at 2 for 3 after having lost Rohit Sharma, makeshift opener Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer for 0 but a classy KL Rahul 97 not out and a steely 85 from Virat Kohli helped India ease past the finish line and begin their World Cup campaign on a high.

As India look to build a winning momentum early in the tournament, they take on Afghanistan who have troubled them in the past. India and Afghanistan have played only 3 ODIs in the past and 2 of them have gone down the wire.

Not many can forget the scare that India survived in the 2019 World Cup match in Southampton. Rohit Sharma had a rare failure, struggling against Mujeeb Ur Rahamn after which India rode on contrasting fifties from Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav to reach a middling total of 224 for 8. And Afghanistan nearly pulled off a successful chase with Mohammad Nabi coming up with a fine knock under pressure. Afghanistan brought it down to 21 off 12 before Jasprit Bumrah and a Mohammed Shami hat-trick sealed the deal for India.

At the 2018 Asia Cup, India and Afghanistan played out a tie. Yes, Afghanistan nearly defended 252 with their senior spinners Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi taking 2 wickets each. India and Afghanistan have never played each other in a bilateral series but Afghanistan, having played a few of their home games in Lucknow, Dehradun and Greater Noida, Shahidi’s side would want to give a better account of themselves after a disappointing defeat to Bangladesh.

PITCH AND CONDITIONS

With Ajay Jadeja in their ranks as mentor, Afghanistan will be hoping to pull something special but the conditions in Delhi might not be ideal for them.

In the first match that Delhi hosted in World Cup 2023, a tournament-record tally of 754 runs were scored. South Africa posted the highest-ever World Cup total of 428 with a trio of their batters getting hundreds. Aiden Markram shone with a 49-ball hundred, the fastest in World Cups. Sri Lanka also did not go down without a fight as they posted 326 in a run-fest in Delhi.

Afghanistan’s main strength is their spin attack, which has the likes of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and the experienced Mohammad Nabi, and the conditions in Delhi might not give the trio the platform to work their magic. It is expected to be another hot day in Delhi but the pitch might not be slow and low, like the ones Delhi Capitals got earlier this year in IPL 2023.

R ASHWIN OR MOHAMMED SHAMI?

On the other hand, India will also be looking to add an extra pacer in place of a spinner. R Ashwin might make way for Mohammed Shami or Shardul Thakur if the pitch resembles the one that was used for the South Africa vs Sri Lanka game.

India don’t have Shubman Gill for their game in Delhi as the star opener is yet to recover from his illness. Gill stayed back in Chennai and did not travel with the team to Delhi. India opened with Ishan Kishan but the youngster got out for a golden duck in his World Cup debut, chasing a wide delivery from Mitchell Starc.

India will expect a better show from Ishan Kishan, who has proved his mettle as an opener with a double hundred last year and 3 fifties against West Indies as recently as August this year.

Batting coach Vikram Rathour, addressing the press on Tuesday, backed Ishan to do well and ruled out Shreyas Iyer dropping down to No. 5 despite his rare failure in the World Cup opener in Chennai.

“He has opened in the past. He has played as an opener. No specific discussions on that. He understands, that was one of the reasons he is in the team. We know that he can bat both in the top-order and in the middle-order. So I mean, he has done that before. No specific discussions, hoping that he comes good,’ he said.

INDIA VS AFGHANISTAN SQUADS

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.

Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), 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.