Virat Kohli will be expected to hit his straps after a lean run while left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav will anxiously wait for his chance when title-favourites India face a sprightly Afghanistan in their opening Super 8 fixture of the T20 World Cup in Barbados on Thursday. (More Cricket News)
The big talkꦛing point ahead of the game is the Indian team combination.
Will India go in with the same line-up that worked for them in the group league stage or bring in their best spinner over the last 12 mꦬonths, Kuldeep, at the expense of a specialist pacer now?
At the start of the tournament, skipper Rohit Sharma had expressed his keenness to include all four all-rounders -- Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja -- in the playing eleven.
That strategy ♚suited the Indian team in the bowler-friendly conditi♒ons in New York and the captain is expected to retain the winning combination that stretches their batting to number 8.
The only way to fit Kuldeep into the team is to either drop Mohammed Siraj or Arshdeep Singh for the wily spinner. If that do𝕴es happen, Siraj is most likely to be benched.
If the two practice sessions of the Indian team are an indication, the pitch could offer plenty to the spinners making Kuldeep's✅ case stronger. With the gentle breeze blowing across the Kensington Oval, the pacers should get the ball to swing in the powerplay.
As is often the case, all eyes will be on Kohli, who is yet to log a double-digit score in the tournament. His s🤪trategy to go for his strokes did not yield the desired results in New York but he is expected to be at his imperious best on the better ⛄wickets in the Caribbean.
The 35-year-old is always operating at 100 per cent and the int🏅ensity he showed during the training sessions was a testament to his exemplary work ethic.
Shivam Dube, who was brought into the side to hammer sixes in the middle and death overs, has sent the ball out of the park only once in this comp🌳etition.
The pitches in the USA did not allow him to go after the spi🤡nners. He would be expected to change that in the Super 8s and beyond.
India's premier T20 batter Suryakumar Yadav too w🎀as back among runs against the USA, albeit not in his usual swashbuckling style. But the effort was enough to boost his confidence.
Besides Kohli, runs are pendi🎀ng from the bat of Hardik Pandya, who has been ജexceptional with the ball.
On the bowling front, Arshdeep Singh has grown in confidence with each passi𝓡ng game, playing perfect wingman to Jasprit Bumrah in both the powerplܫay and death overs.
With the surface likely to aid the slower bowlers, Axar and Jadeja would be backing themselves to make a decisive impact i🀅n the game.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, head into the Super 8 🍒fixt൩ures after a humbling loss to the West Indies in St Lucia.
Their bowling attack, which allowed them to boꩲss their first three ga♌mes, was put to the sword by the hard-hitting West Indies batters.
Captain Rashid Khan saw the defeat as a blip in an otherwise impressive campaign, ins𒆙isting that his team remains a worthy contender for a semifinal berth.
"As a bowler, you need to come up with plans to keep the scoring to under 10. The morale is still pretty high and this loss does not affect us. We have achieved ♐our first goal of reach🌠ing the Super 8s and now it is about taking the next step," Rashid had said.
He will be𝄹 heavily banking on left-arm pacer Fazalhaq♊ Farooqi, who provided them with wickets in the powerplay and is currently the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 12 scalps.
If he can swing the ball back in like he ha⭕s thus far, Rohit and Kohli will need to be o🥃n high alert.
Rashid himself will be looking f𒉰or wickets at a frugal economy rate in t🍬he middle overs.
On the batting front, in-form openers Rah﷽manull🐠ah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran would once again be crucial to the team's chances.
Full Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patꦛel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohamma♌d Siraj.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicketkeeper), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nab💯i, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Hazratullah Zazai, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Mohammad Ishaq, Nangeyalia Kharote.
Match starts at 8 pm (IST).
