Abu Dhabi, (Asian independent) Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi has won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in a Group 2 match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium here on Wednesday.
After winning the toss, Nabi said that Sharafuddin Ashraf comes in for a retired Asghar Afghan with Mujeeb Ur Rahman still unavailable. “Last game there was a lot of dew in the second half. We always prepare for both, but today we’ll bowl first because of dew. We’ll play normal cricket and go and enjoy.”
India skipper Virat Kohli said that Suryakumar Yadav has recovered from his back spasms and replaces Ishan Kishan in the playing eleven. He added that Ravichandran Ashwin comes in for Varun Chakravarthy, who is out due to a niggle.
“Firstly there’s no denying the fact that the situation is a tricky one. Having said that, there’s still a chance. We as a team will look at the chance and try to play positive cricket. We know we haven’t played up to potential whatever the reasons might be – need to brush that aside. Would have bowled first. But it’s not a bad thing against a side like Afghanistan who look to put up runs on the board,” said Kohli.
Playing XIs;
India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah
Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mohammad Nabi (captain), Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Hamid Hassan and Naveen Ul Haq
