India's Ravichandran Ashwin, without cap, celebrates with teammates after dismissing Afghanistan's Gulbadin Naib during the Cricket Twenty20 World Cup match between India and Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021.
IND vs AFG, T20 World Cup 2021 Highlights
That's all from our Live coverage of India vs Afghanistan match. Indian team finally played the way they were expected to as the top-order fired in unison to put 210/2 on the board while bowlers were right on the money as well by never allowing Afghans any look-in in the game.
Afghanistan 69/5 in 11.5 overs OUT! It's Ashwin show now as the veteran spinner clean bowls Najibullah Zadran (11) after removing Gulbadin Naib.
Afghanistan 48/3 in 6.5 overs OUT! Ravindra Jadeja strikes in his first over to remove dangerman Gurbaz, who failed to clear the long-on boundary despite getting elevation.
Afghanistan 47/2 in 6 overs Gulbadin Naib joins the chase as well; smashing Hardik Pandya for two boundaries in the over.
Afghanistan 38/2 in 5 overs Rahmanullah Gurbaz brings life back in the game by clobbering Shami for 21 runs in the over. The teenager shot two sixes and perfectly timed as many fours as well in the over.
Afghanistan 13/2 in 3.1 overs OUT! That's two wickets in two balls for India as Bumrah dismisses Zazai. Afghan batters shot selection over the last two balls has been all over the place. Can't really blame them, the asking rate is way too high.
Afghanistan 13/1 in 3 overs After bowling four dot balls in the over, Shami finally churned a mistake out of Shazad, who departs without opening his account on the night.
Afghanistan 12/0 in 2 overs Zazai is doing all the scoring at the moment as he jabs Bumrah for a six over deep midwicket.
Afghanistan 5/0 in 1 over Hazratullah Zazai starts Afghanistan run chase with a boundary off the first over bowled by Mohammed Shami.
INNINGS BREAK
India 210/2 in 20 overs After Rohit Sharma's (74 runs off 47 balls) and KL Rahul's (69 off 48) half-centuries for the opening stand, Rishabh Pant (27* off 13) and Hardik Pandya (35* off 13) took India past 200 runs by the end of 20 overs.
India 135/0 in 14 overs Rohit takes good measure of Rashid Khan by clearing him for two big sixes in the over; India seems rampant on the way to 200.
India 119/0 in 13 overs Rahul hits another boundary through short fine leg to finish the over; 12 runs come off it!
India 111/0 in 12.1 overs KL Rahul slams Naveen for a boundary of the first ball to reach his half century in just 35 deliveries.
India 102/0 in 11.4 overs A poor misfielding at the deep point results in a boundary for Rohit, who raises his bat for a half-century in 37 balls.
India 91/0 in 11 overs Gulbadin kept the openers under check for most of the over, except one short delivery that was sweetly placed by Rohit beyond the third man boundary. The openers is a shot away from half century.
India 85/0 in 10 overs Another productive over for India as Rahul sweeps Rashid Khan for a four past the short-fine leg fielder before Rohit steels three runs in the over. 20 runs came off the last two overs.
India 74/0 in 9 overs Finally a boundary after three overs; this time it comes out of Rahul's bat as he enters the 30s. Left-arm spinner Sharafuddin at the receiving end.
India 65/0 in 8 overs Another run-a-ball over as Rashid Khan deliveries are keeping lower now. Indian openers will have some adjustment to do in the upcoming overs.
India 59/0 in 7 overs Two overs now without boundaries for India as Gulbadin Naib gives away six runs in his 1st over of the day.
India 53/0 in 6 overs Hamid Hassan with another tidy over, just a run off it. The Afghan bowlers really need to follow the line and length the pacer has maintained so far.
India 52/0 in 5 overs Rohit (34* off 19 balls) goes hard on Naveen; smashes the young pacer for two-four and a towering six to take India past 50 n just five overs.
India 35/0 in 4 overs A tidy over by Hamid Hassan, just five runs off it.
India 30/0 in 3 overs Afghanistan finally bring pace in bowling attack with Naveen-ul-Haq, who conceded seven runs in his 1st over that included a pull shot over mid-wicket by Rohit for a four.
India 23/0 in 2 overs A big over for India! 16 runs came off it as the two openers feel at comfort against an all spin start by the Afghans. Rohit did the early damage in the over, with a four through short fine leg. Rahul then joined the party by hitting a six and a four off left-arm orthodox Sharafuddin.
India 7/0 in 1 over Rohit ended the over by slamming Nabi for a boundary over the extra cover region. That should add some early pressure on the Afghans.
7:29 PM Expectedly Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul return as the opening pair for the game after top-order failure against New Zealand in the last game. Will they provide the much-needed good start to India this time as spinner Mohammad Nabi starts with the new ball.
7:23 PM Both teams are out for their respective national anthem. Since India are the official host of the tournament, Afghanistan will go first.
7:10 PM: Playing XI of both India and Afghanistan
India Playing XI: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
Afghanistan Playing XI: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad(w), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi(c), Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Naveen-ul-Haq, Hamid Hassan
7:05 PM India have made two changes in their Playing XI. Ravichandran Ashwin replaces Varun Chakravarthy and Suryakumar Yadav takes his place back after getting fit.
7:00 PM: Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bowl first.
6:55 PM We are just five minutes away from a crucial toss. Two important questions in everyone's mind, will Kohli win the toss? Will Ashwin be in the playing XI finally?
4:30 PM: Former Pakistan player Wasim Akram wants India to stick to their original opening pair. Akram wants Rohit Sharma to open the innings for the team.
4:15 PM: Sanjay Manjrekar picks Suryakumar Yadav over Ishan Kishan for India's clash against Afghanistan on Wednesday.
3:45 PM: Former Indian cricketer Kiran More makes two changes as he picks his playing XI for the India vs Afghanistan game in Abu Dhabi.
3:00 PM: Key battles to watch out for during the India-Afghanistan contest in Abu Dhabi.
Virat Kohli vs Rashid Khan
Rohit Sharma vs Naveen-ul Haq
Mohammad Shahzad vs Jasprit Bumrah
Mohammed Nabi vs Ravindra Jadeja
2:00 PM: Afghan spin threat - Ahead of the India-Afghanistan cracking contest on Wednesday, we look at the statistics of Indian batters- Kl Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant against Afghanistan's spin attack.
1:30 PM: Sanjay Manjrekar wants Suryakumar Yadav back in the team, provided the star batsman is fit
1:00 PM: Akash Chopra suggests two changes in India's line-up for their clash against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi.
India eye first win, face upbeat Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi
Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's inexplicable absence from the playing XI is in focus as India skipper Virat Kohli tries to figure the combination that can bring his team's floundering campaign back on track when it takes on a feisty Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.
India's run has been derailed after two crushing defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand and the performance that they have put in is not worthy of a semi-final spot even though mathematics keeps their hopes alive.
Afghanistan have expectedly won their two games against Scotland and Namibia and were in the contest against Pakistan for the better part before Asif Ali took the game away with four sixes in one over.
