Google search says the distance between Chennai and Delhi is a whopping 2,210 km. That is what the Indian team had to cover as they travelled from the south to the north of the country for their game versus Afghanistan. In a league phase, where every team plays nine matches, games come thick and fast and players have to rejuvenate quickly.
One of them who had to replenish his batting skills was Ishan Kishan. Unfortunately for the southpaw, he wasn’t able to find rhythm as he was troubled on both edges of the bat at the nets. Incidentally, Kishan was dismissed by an away-swinger from Mitchell Starc in India’s opening game against Australia. Some months ago, he was trapped leg-before by Marcus Stoinis in an ODI series. On both occasions, he struggled to load up early, with his back foot ending up somewhere around leg-stump. As a result, his front foot couldn’t move towards the pitch of the ball.
Just peel through the layers and one could envisage why Kishan had a long net. The prolific Shubman Gill has been laid low by dengue, and that has put a spanner in India’s works. So, the onus is on Kishan, alongside Rohit Sharma, to lay the platform. Barring that one technical glitch in the bating engine, most of the parts seem to be functioning well for the home side.
Jasprit Bumrah showcased his expertise by quickly adjusting to the slow pitch in Chennai. Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja then ran through the heart of the Australian batting with their spin tricks. Although going by how the pitch in Delhi played during the Sri Lanka versus South Africa game, it may not turn out to be another spin-friendly deck.
The essence of India’s victory over Australia was the duo of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul rescuing the side from a steep precipice and steering them to safe waters. Incidentally, the India skipper had recently talked about how he wanted the team to recover from a precarious position. “We have to prepare for when the team is 10 for 3.”
Meanwhile, Afghanistan have an uphill task on their hands. They aren’t just playing a formidable force in their own den, but they have to find an erase button in order to move forward from their crushing loss in the opening game against Bangladesh. On a slightly up-and-down deck in Dharamsala, only Rahmanullah Gurbaz looked assured at the crease.
Afghanistan would trust Ibrahim Zadran, Gurbaz’s opening partner, to find his nick after a run of three low scores. Najibullah Zadran, the veteran, is another batter who needs to step up in the big game. Afghanistan’s designated finisher hasn’t scored a fifty in ODIs since November last year. Even Rahmat Shah hasn’t been among the runs.
The bowling would once again revolve around two stalwarts in the spin department — Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman — with Mohammad Nabi in support cast. Afghanistan have never beaten India across formats. Maybe, just maybe, they can do something special in India’s capital city, although, India start as firm favourites.
Time and Venue Details
India vs Afghanistan, October 11, New Delhi 14:00 IST
Expected conditions
The track for the previous game at this ground had more pace than expected. The even bounce and a relatively small ground meant that more than 750 runs were scored in a single day.
Possible XIs
India: The hosts could retain the side that beat Australia, with Shardul Thakur missing out.
Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Afghanistan: They might also pick the same XI, even though Noor Ahmed’s wrist spin is an option.
Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Match-up
Indians vs Afghan spinners: The obvious one would be India’s batters versus Afghanistan’s spin troika. But also look out for Fazalhaq Farooqi bowling at India’s top-order. They have had issues versus left-arm pace in the recent past. Farooqi’s left-arm angle and slingy action could make him a handful. Having said that, there was little or no movement during Sri Lanka-South Africa game played at the same ground.
Team Speak
He (Shubman Gill) is recovering well. He was hospitalised as a precaution. We are hoping he’ll recover soon.
Vikram Rathour (India’s batting coach)
We have a good spin-bowling attack, but only one department can’t win you games. You have to score runs for that, to win the game.
Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan captain)