India vs Afghanistan LIVE Score, 2nd T20I in Indore: Men in Blue opt to field, Kohli and Jaiswal replace Gill and Tilak

India vs Afghanistan LIVE

Teams:

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(wk), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Ibrahim Zadran(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

India vs Afghanistan LIVE

Rohit Sharma, India captain: No particular reason. It’s just that the nature of the ground, quite a chasing ground. A lot of things. We played well. We’re able to come out here and execute them. We asked certain players to perform certain roles and it was pleasing to see them do that. They’re quite fearless in their own style. It’s our duty to encourage them. Kohli and Jaiswal back for Gill and Tilak.

Ibrahim Zadran, Afghanistan captain: We will try to bat well today, try to put a big score on the board. The boundary is quite short and we wanted to bowl first as well. We had a net session yesterday and thought about our mistakes. We’ll try to play positive cricket. We need to improve a little in the batting department. We will try to get a good start today. Extra spinner in our lineup today, we are going with Noor Ahmad in place of Rahmat Shah.

India vs Afghanistan LIVE

India win the toss and skipper Rohit Sharma opts to field!

India vs Afghanistan LIVE

Deep Dasgupta and NIck Night analyse the Indore pitch ahead of toss:  

“Traditionally a very high-scoring venue, mainly due to the smaller dimensions. Pitch wise, we have a very flat surface here. Not very deep some of those, the cracks a very firm. Might just grip a little bit. If you win the toss, bowl first and then bat under the lights. If you bat first, make plenty of runs in the first few overs.”

India vs Afghanistan LIVE

India vs Afghanistan Head to Head

India and Afghanistan have met each other six times in the shortest format, with the Afghan Atalan yet to beat the Men in Blue. India have won five encounters while one match ended in a No Result.

India vs Afghanistan LIVE

ICYMI

Rohit Sharma wasn’t one bit happy with Shubman Gill after the two got into a mix-up during the first over of India’s chase in Mohali, resulting in the ‘Hitman’ getting run out for 2 on his return to T20Is after more than a year.

Watch: Rohit blasts Gill after a mix-up sees him get run-out on a duck

India vs Afghanistan LIVE

Axar Patel was the pick of India’s bowlers in the first T20I in Mohali, where he finished 2/23 from four overs. Despite the solid performance, the left-arm spinner has said he isn’t thinking about the T20 World Cup yet as he will be “putting pressure” on himself.

Read: ‘Just want to focus on adding to my skill sets,’ says Axar Patel

India vs Afghanistan LIVE

Shivam Dube does admit to having thoughts of representing India at the T20 World Cup later this year, especially after his match-winning all-round performance in Mohali. The Chennai Super Kings all-rounder however, is keeping his feet grounded for now and is focusing on the current series against Afghanistan

Click here for more on that story

India vs Afghanistan LIVE

Focus on Kohli’s return

Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been included in the T20I team for the first time since November 2022, when India lost the T20 World Cup semi-final against England. While Rohit had a forgettable return to the format in Mohali on Thursday, Kohli will hope to have a better outing and transfer his red-hot form to T20Is from the longer formats.

Click here to read the preview for the 2nd T20I

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the second T20I between India and Afghanistan at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday. Virat Kohli makes his big return to the T20I format after missing out on the series opener due to personal reasons, while the Rohit Sharma-led side aim to win the series with a game to spare.