Preview | The hour of reckoning has arrived for the Indian cricket team

After enjoying a fairytale run in world cricket over the past one year, the Indian juggernaut has finally faltered in the T20 World Cup. In as the favourites to win the tournament alongside England, India have had a horror run in the tournament, losing 2 out of their first two games. One might as well just laugh at the fate of things given form that India were enjoying coming into this world tournament - albeit in a different format of the game.

Coming into the tournament, India were on a relentless spree, ticking off Australia in their own backyard and then putting up incredible performances against England both home and away. 

However, this is not the longest format of the game and India have just been served a reality check by Pakistan and New Zealand in their first two matches of the Super 12 stage.

At the verge of being knocked out of the tournament, India are now facing Afghanistan in a do or die match in the Sheikh Zayed Stadium at the Abu Dhabi on 3 November, Tuesday. 

Afghanistan have been impressive in the tournament so far winning two out of their three matches played. They would have won the third game as well, but a blistering 7-ball 25 from Asif Ali put dampener on their plans.

With their spin bowling and their ability to make the boundary look small, Afghanistan are as big a competition as any for the Indian side - especially given the circumstances of the game.

The qualification scenarios

1. If India lose this one, they are done. They will be out of the tournament.

2. If India win this one, they will keep their hopes alive, but will have to depend on the results of the other games. They will need Afghanistan to beat New Zealand to clear their path for the semi finals.

3. If Afghanistan win this match, they will have 6 points and will more or less confirm their place in the semi finals owing to their huge run rate.

Key pointers of the game

The Spin Twins

India’s issues with leg spin are well recorded and this game houses the best leg spinner in modern day cricket. It has been over six years since Rashid Khan debuted in international cricket and even today in the age of data and analytics, players have found him incredibly difficult to read him.

Alongside him, Rashid will have the services of Mujeeb Ur Rahman who ripped through the Scotland line-up in their first game of the Super 12 stage.

He was declared unfit for the game against Namibia and Afghanistan would really hope that he can come back for this crucial tie against India.

The Retirement of Asghar Afghan

The legendary captain who has an incredible story with the Afghan team, retired in the game against Namibia. The decision supposedly was taken to give the youngsters a chance to play in the premier tournament in the world.

So, one place gets opened automatically in the Afghan side, and that place might be filled by Hashmatullah Shahidi who recently became the first Afghan player to score a double century in Test cricket. 

An anchor by trade, the left hander has an average of 40 in T20s with a strike-rate of 120. He is technically sound and could see through the tough middle phases of the India bowling attack setting up the likes of Gulabadin Naib and Mohammad Nabi to go for the big hits. In the domestic T20 competitions Shahidi has shown that he has added the big hitting prowess to his name, but that bit of the game is untested in the international stage.

Afghan Yorkers

Barring the eight overs of quality spin bowling, India will have to be wary of Hamid Hasan.

A good old fashioned fast bowler, currently at 34 years of age, Hasan just likes to bowl fast. He has a yorker that nips back sharply into the right hander, and the out of form Indian batting order will need to watch out for that.

Quality of Indian Players

You can have one bad day, two bad days, but the kind of quality that the Indian line-up has, it is very very difficult to keep them quiet for an extended period of time.

The team is process-oriented and Virat Kohli has gone on record that they know exactly what they need to do in the 22-yards to pull this tournament back in their favour.

If fit, Suryakumar Yadav could be India’s biggest bet to see through the middle overs as Virat Kohli tries to save himself against the likes of Rashid Khan and Indian management would be doing everything to get the Mumbai man back into contention. SKY was out of the New Zealand game due to a back spasm and might get back into the side against Afghanistan

The Batting Order Rejig

India rejigged their batting order heavily for the New Zealand game. Rohit Sharma was dropped to three, Virat Kohli batted at four while Ishan Kishan opened the innings alongside KL Rahul.

That match did not solve any of India’s batting problems and put them in a precarious position instead. It is possible that Ishan Kishan might get dropped for this game, with India going back to their favoured combination of KL and Rohit at the top with Kohli and SKY to follow.

Match Details

Afghanistan vs India

Match 33, Group 2, Super 12

Venue - Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Date & Time - 3 November, 7:30 PM IST (6 PM Local)

Broadcast - Star Sports Network & Hotstar

Pitch Report

The dry grass at Abu Dhabi has supported pace and bounce in this tournament. In the Bangladesh vs South Africa game, played on Tuesday, 2 November, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje had a field day, terrorising the batsmen with their seam movement and bounce.

With a little hint of movement through the air, pacers might have a great day throughout the game and spinners might enjoy bowling in the first half of the game.

The second half of the night game has been heavily dominated by dew, and teams have found it easy to chase.

If you win the toss, bowl first.

Team News

India

At the time of writing, there has been no confirmation about the availability of Suryakumar Yadav. India have shown faith in the abilities of Hardik Pandya and will hope that this is the game where he comes to the party. Ishan Kishan will likely be dropped for SKY if he is fit, and India are going to keep the rest of the XI same.

Probable XI

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammad Shami

Afghanistan

Afghanistan have had a great time in the T20 World Cup barring the final overs against Pakistan and they will look to back their strengths in the game. They will look to get Mujeeb into the line up. With Asghar Afghan retiring to make place for youngsters in the team, Hashmatullah Shahidi might get a game while Karim Janat might make way for Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Probable XI

Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Naveen ul Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

CE Fantasy XI

Mohammad Shahzad, Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma (vc), Najibullah Zadran, KL Rahul, Mohammad Nabi (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Rashid Khan, Naveen ul Haq, Varun Chakravarthy