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India will be aiming to extend their hundred percent start to the 2023 ICC World Cup at home when they face Afghanistan in New Delhi on Wednesday.
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India, who are hosting the tournament in its entirety this year, began their campaign with a six-wicket victory over five-time champions Australia in Chennai on Sunday. The six-wicket victory margin though, appears a lot easier than what it actually was, with Virat Kohli and KL Rahul having to bat out of their skins to rescue the Men in Blue after they were reduced to 2/3 in their chase of 200.
Read | Team India school ill-prepared Australia in unforgiving conditions
Before Kohli and Rahul’s 165-run stand for the fourth wicket led India to victory, their spin department led by Ravindra Jadeja (3/28) played a key role in restricting Australia to a modest total on a conducive surface at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The spin department will be looking to spin a similar web around the Afghan batters in Wednesday’s fixture, which will be the second of the ongoing tournament to take place in the national capital after the South Africa-Sri Lanka match that turned out to be a run-fest.
Afghanistan, after all, had struggled against spin in their six-wicket defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in Dharamsala on Saturday. The Afghan Atalans were going strong at 112/2 thanks to positive start by Rahmanullah Gurbaz (47), but would suffer a spectacular collapse thereafter as Mehidy Hasan Miraz (3/25) and Shakib Al Hasan (3/30) ran through their middle order after getting a decent amount of grip and turn on the Dharamsala surface.
Afghanistan would then strike early in the Bangladesh chase, and reduce them to 27/2 at one stage before Mehidy once again proved a thorn in the flesh for them. The all-rounder came to the Tigers’ rescue with a 73-ball 57, stitching a 97-run third-wicket stand with Najmul Hossain Shanto (59 not out).
And facing the trio of Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav, after the new-ball attack of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, will be just as big a challenge for the Afghan batters on Wednesday if not greater.
Among the major talking points heading into the India-Afghanistan clash is the absence of Shubman Gill, who is set to miss out on a second consecutive match due to illness. Gill, who is reportedly down with dengue, had missed out on India’s opening game against Australia and will stay back in Chennai while the rest of the team travels to New Delhi.
Gill had even been taken to a hospital, according to reports, and is believed to have made some improvements though his participation in Saturday’s blockbuster clash against Pakistan remains a doubt.
Ishan Kishan had been picked as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner in his absence. Though he was excellent on the field by preventing quite a few boundaries, Kishan was dismissed for a golden duck by Mitchell Starc in the very first over of India’s chase.
However, will Gill set to miss a second match in a row, Kishan will hope to make up for that blip with a substantial score.
Also looking to make amends for their ducks against Australia are skipper Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer, both of whom were dismissed in one Josh Hazlewood over.
Iyer, especially, will be feeling the heat; he made his comeback into the Indian team along with Rahul in the Asia Cup, but the two have had contrasting runs since. Rahul has been in the form of his life in recent games, and starred in the victory over Australia with an unbeaten 97.
Iyer did register scores of 105 and 48 in the ODI series against Australia before the World Cup, but his scores in the three remaining outings since his return in the Asia Cup read 14, 3 and 0. With Suryakumar Yadav also fighting for a spot in the middle order and having impressed in the Australia ODIs, Iyer will be hoping to come up with a big score against Afghanistan to keep his spot in the side safe.
The Afghans, additionally, are yet to defeat India in any format of the sport since the two sides first met in the 2010 World T20 in the West Indies. The two teams have squared off in five T20Is, three ODIs and a solitary Test in 2018.
Read | A look at ODIs between India and Afghanistan over the years
India have won all encounters except two — 2018 Asia Cup ODI match in Dubai and the final of the Asian Games men’s cricket event, that took place in the T20I format. The first one ended in a tie, while the second was a washout, resulting in India winning gold as a result of them being the higher-seeded team.
Their winless run against India, however, shouldn’t deter the Afghans. Quite a few of them, after all, are stars in the Indian Premier League and the likes of Rashid Khan, who currently plays for the Gujarat Titans, have foxed some of the best batters in the world including Indians. Afghanistan have a potent spin combination in Rashid, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad and Mohammad Nabi that can cause several problems for the famed Indian batting order on the day.
Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi expected Rashid to deliver against the Men in Blue in Delhi.
“Rashid is the best bowler in ODI and T20s, so whatever the opposition is doing, we don’t care about that. Like how they want to play Rashid, but for us the important thing is how he has planned against the opposition. So that matters for us.
“He has the quality and whenever it’s his day, he can do anything against the opposition, so we are expecting and we are hopeful that he delivers in tomorrow’s game,” Shahidi told reporters on the eve of the game.
And the one contest a majority of fans will be looking forward to on Wednesday will be seamer Naveen-ul-Haq’s showdown with Virat Kohli. The two had exchanged a few pleasantries at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium during the IPL on 1 May — the match in which Rahul had picked up a thigh injury — with Lucknow Super Giants mentor Gautam Gambhir also getting involved in the heated exchange.
It’s been a few months since the incident unfolded in Lucknow. On Wednesday, however, both players will be looking forward to having a go at one another and this time they’ll try and keep their battle limited to a cricketing one rather than letting their emotions get the better of them for a second time.
India vs Afghanistan World Cup 2023 match date
The India vs Afghanistan Cricket World Cup match will be played on Wednesday, 11 October.
India vs Afghanistan World Cup 2023 match time
The India vs Afghanistan Cricket World Cup match will start at 2 PM IST. The toss will take place at 1.30 PM IST.
India vs Afghanistan World Cup 2023 match venue
The India vs Afghanistan Cricket World Cup match will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
India vs Afghanistan World Cup 2023 match LIVE Streaming
The India vs Afghanistan Cricket World Cup match will be broadcast live on Star Sports Network and live streaming will be available on Disney+ Hotstar.
India vs Afghanistan head-to-head
The only time India and Afghanistan faced each other in ICC World Cups was in the 2019 edition in Southampton. India were restricted to a modest 224/8, and the Afghans were very much in contention for an upset victory until they fell just 11 runs short in the end.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma(c), 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, Shardul Thakur
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Ikram Alikhil, Abdul Rahman, Riaz Hassan, Noor Ahmad
English (US)