Agencies
Navigating their way through some extreme pressure moments in their tournament opener, India will be eyeing a perfect game against a sprightly Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup in New Delhi on Wednesday.
As pointed out by skipper Rohit Sharma, India’s biggest challenge over the course of the league stage will be to quickly adapt to the conditions in nine different venues.
After a slow and spinning track at Chepauk, a belter of a surface is expected at the Feroz Shah Kotla, where more than 700 runs were plundered in a high-scoring affair between South Africa and Sri Lanka last week. With Shubman Gill ruled out of the game due to dengue, Ishan Kishan will get another opportunity at the top of the order alongside Rohit.
Bowling, mainly spinners, has been 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 the only one in top form. An effort of 156 all out against Bangladesh was not acceptable and the batters will be looking for immediate course correction.
Spinner Mujeeb Zadran usually opens the bowling alongisde a pacer while trump card Rashid Khan comes into the attack after the powerplay.
Squads
IndiacTypeface:> 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.
AfghanistancTypeface:> 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.
