IND Vs AFG: The Men in Blue have started the three-match series of the shortest format with a good win over the Afghans. India has won the 1st T20I match in freezing cold weather in Punjab.
Firstly, their bowling was upto the mark in this game. Axar was the pick of the Indian bowlers yesterday.
But still, the hosts leaked some runs in the backend overs and there were dropped catches as well. But thankfully that didn’t hurt the Blues much as they won the first game by a margin of six wickets.
After the top order fell cheaply, it was Shivam Dube who mastered the run chase quite brilliantly.
Dube ji scored his second half-century of his shortest-format career and he also delivered with the white cherry as well. Shivam picked up one wicket which was of the Afghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran. The CSK all-rounder earned a Man of the Match award for his good performance.
In the 2nd match as well, Rohit will want Dube to repeat the performance which he gave in the first match. Sharma Ji, the skipper returned to the shortest format side after 14 months. But he didn’t have a day to remember with the bat in hand as he was out for a golden duck.
HITMAN will aim to make a better comeback in the last two matches of this series. Shubman Gill also failed in yesterday’s game and both the opening batters were short of the runs in the first game so they will look to make up for those low scores.
India will also think about the player who will go out when Virat Kohli returns. King Kohli wasn’t available for the 1st match of this series due to personal reasons.
According to the experts of the game, Tilak Varma will have to sit out and make way for the champion batter Kohli.
Varma did well in the first game with the bat. But unfortunately, he will have to sacrifice his position for the legend of the T20I format, Virat Kohli.
India can also add Kuldeep Yadav to their playing XI for the second and the last match. The chinaman bowler can come in the place of Washington Sundar, who was a bit costly in the opening encounter.
The Afghans had started their innings well with the bat. They added the 50 run stand for the opening wicket, which was their highest partnership against India in the shortest format.
But still, they will need the middle order to fire in the 2nd match and Mohammed Nabi should play the knock which he played yesterday for his side.
Nabi can be the glue to this Afghanistan side with the bat. He has the experience and the calibre to take Afghanistan towards more victories. The visitors are missing Rashid Khan dearly.
Still, they have Mujeeb in their squad and he picked up the two wickets in yesterday’s game.
Afghanistan can add Noor Ahmed to strengthen their bowling a bit and they should also look to replace Rahmat Shah and pick Hazratullah Zazai in their playing XI. Noor Ahmed can be picked in the place of Fazalhaq Farooqi for their must win encounter.
Day – Sunday
Date – 14th January 2024
Venue – Holkar Stadium in Indore
Toss Timings – 6.30 PM Indian Standard Time (IST) and Local, 1 PM GMT
Match Timings – 7 PM Indian Standard Time (IST) and Local, 1.30 PM GMT
Television Channels - Sports Network 18 in English Commentary and Colors Cineplex for Hindi Commentary.
Live Streaming - JioCinema Mobile Application.
India - Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli/Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson/Jitesh Sharma(wk), Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav/Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, and Mukesh Kumar.
Afghanistan - Ibrahim Zadran(c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi/Karim Janat, Noor Ahmad and Naveen-ul-Haq.
Batters – Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Nabi and Ibrahim Zadran
Bowlers – Mukesh Kumar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Karim Janat
All-rounders – Shivam Dube and Axar Patel
Wicket-keeper – Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Vice-captain – Shubman Gill
Captain – Najibullah Zadran
