India and Afghanistan are all set to face each other tonight in Match 33 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi of this ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021. Both the teams are coming from losses, however, Afghanistan has won two matches out of three they have played and India have lost both their matches so far.
India has lost both their matches against Pakistan and New Zealand, one of the main reasons for their loss is the unbalance of the batting lineup. For winning any game, the team needs a good start. Batting first in both the games, India has failed to score runs in the powerplay instead they have lost wickets.
Moreover, India’s middle-order has not shown any patience after the top order collapses time and time again. Suryakumar Yadav who didn’t play against New Zealand has not shown intent with his bat.
Mohammad Nabi’s Afghanistan has looked in great touch in this T20 World Cup. They have a solid batting lineup overall, which can be one of the things Indian bowlers should look out for in today’s game.
They have come facing a defeat from Babar Azam’s Pakistan, their confidence for coming back will be high and so will Indian players be high on motivation to qualify for the Semifinals of the tournament.
Match Details
Match – India vs Afghanistan – Match 33
Venue – Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
Time – 07:30 PM IST, 02:00 PM GMT
Pitch Report
The pitch is expected to be on the slower side, with spinners playing a key role in the middle overs. With dew expected in the latter half of the match, the team that wins the toss will bowl first. 160-170 should be a good score.
India vs Afghanistan – Predicted Playing XI
India: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy
Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (C), Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad, Rahmanullah Grbaz, Usman Ghani, Najibullah Zadram, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan, Naveen Ul Haq
Head-to-head
Overall
Matches- 2, India – 2, Afghanistan– 0, Tied- 0
In T20 World Cups
Matches- 2, India – 2, Afghanistan– 0, Tied- 0
Batsmen to Watch out for
KL Rahul (India)
KL Rahul is a class player without a shred of a doubt. He is just under an immense amount of pressure, he needs some time in the middle after that there are no better destructive batsmen than him. Will be interesting to see the shot selection he has in today’s game.
Bowler to Watch out for
Jasprit Bumrah (India)
The Indian bowling has been pathetic in the World Cup. Apart from Jasprit Bumrah, none of their bowlers has got a wicket in the tournament so far. However to win in today’s game by a huge margin India need their bowling group to step up and take wickets. Jasprit Bumrah will be a key bowler for today’s encounter.
India vs Afghanistan – Match Prediction – Who will win the match?
Being a must-win game for India, Virat Kohli and his men will come full-on confidence into this game and win it for keeping their hopes alive for qualifying for the Semi-finals of the tournament.
Virat Kohli and Co. will bring out their A-game in all the 3 departments today against Afghanistan to win by a margin which can positively affect the NRR for team India.
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