Things heated up as the T20 World Cup entered the Super 8 stage, and Team India is all set to start the round with the clash against Afghanistan at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. The Men in Blue remained unbeaten in the group stage, where they registered wins over Ireland, Pakistan, and the USA, while their last match against Canada was abandoned due to rain. Meanwhile, Afghanistan also played quality cricket in the group round, where they staged a big upset by beating New Zealand. However, a big defeat against co-hosts West Indies in their last match might have dented their confidence.
It will be a tough battle between a star-studded Indian batting line-up versus a quality Afghan bowling attack. The Indian batters have not met expectations thus far and struggled to get going on the tricky New York pitch. Star batter Virat Kohli is also going through a lean patch with three single-digit scores - 1,4 and 0.
Meanwhile, India might make a couple of changes in their playing XI to change the combination as one-off wrist spinners - Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are expected to get picked.
India vs Afghanistan: Weather report
As per weather.com, the clouds might cover the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, and Barbados, but there are very low chances of rain which is a good sign for both teams and their fans. It’s an early morning game, according to Barbados time. The temperature is expected to oscillate between 27 degrees Celsius to 31 degrees Celsius. After India's last match against Canada got washed out, we are expected to witness a rain-free match on Thursday.
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India had relied predominantly on its pace bowling arsenal at the Nassau County Stadium in New York as the drop-in pitches there had uneven bounce, which aided the quicks.
{{/usCountry}}India had relied predominantly on its pace bowling arsenal at the Nassau County Stadium in New York as the drop-in pitches there had uneven bounce, which aided the quicks.
{{/usCountry}}"It's tough to leave anyone out. New York had pace bowlers conditions... slightly different. We might need something different here (in Barbados). Yuzi (Chahal) or Kuldeep (Yadav) could be used here," said Dravid, while interacting with the media on the eve of the Super Eight game.
"We are lucky to have players with all-round abilities. We had eight batters but we (also) had seven bowling options," he added.