Get ready for an epic showdown! Check out our Cricket Match Preview of India vs Afghanistan, featuring key players and predictions.
India vs Afghanistan Preview
India come up against Afghanistan in match nine of the ICC Men’s World Cup in Deihi on the 11th of October.
India played Australia in their first match of the CWC, and India won by six wickets. Australia won the toss and elected to bat. India started well with the ball by picking up the wicket of Marsh in the 3rd over. India continued to make it difficult for Australia to score runs and they were able to pick up regular wickets all the way through the innings. Australia ended up being bowled out in the 50th over for 199 runs. India was off to a terrible start as they lost three wickets inside the first two overs. Kohli and Rahul put on an impressive 165 run partnership for the 4th wicket, and this was enough to put India in the box seat. After the dismissal of Kohli, Rahul and Pandya made short work of the remaining 34 runs required and reached the target of 200 runs in the 42nd over.
The top performers in GDS for India were:
Ravindra Jadeja – 132 points
KL Rahul – 125 points
Virat Kohli – 115 points
Kuldeep Yadav – 79 points
Jasprit Bumrah – 77 points
Afghanistan played Bangladesh in their first match of the CWC, and Bangladesh won by six wickets. Afghanistan started well and made it through to 112/2 in the 25th over before Bangladesh started to get the upper hand. From this point on Bangladesh picked up the remaining eight wickets in the next thirteen overs and restricted Afghanistan to 156 runs. In the run chase, Bangladesh was off to a wobbly start and were 27/2 in the 7th over. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan put on 97 runs for the third wicket and Bangladesh reached the 157-run target with 15.2 overs to spare.
The top performers in GDS for Afghanistan were:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz – 57 points
Azmatullah Omarzai – 53 points
Fazalhaq Farooqi – 46 points
Mohammad Nabi – 40 points
Rashid Khan – 34 points
Arun Jaitley Stadium & Pitch Information
The pitches at Arun Jaitley Stadium have recently been re-laid, they have used black soil to create surfaces expected to offer more bounce and favourable conditions for fast bowlers. South Africa and Sri Lanka played here on Saturday, and we saw a total of 754 runs scored. If we see India win the toss and decide to bat, it may be a great opportunity to start a few batters from India in your GDS squad.
India vs Afghanistan predicted XIs
India: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer/Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Who to play in your GDS starting XI
Batters
The three batters that I am likely going to start will be Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer. Over the last ten matches these players average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
Rohit Sharma – 45 points
Virat Kohli – 48 points
Shreyas Iyer – 38 points
My selections basically come down to liking the batters from India on home soil. Also, the recent form from the Afghanistan batters hasn’t been great. Sharma and Iyer were both dismissed for ducks against Australia while Kohli scored a solid 85 runs. If Suryakumar Yadav replaces Iyer in the starting XI, I will be starting him above any of the batters from Afghanistan. None of the Afghanistan batters fired against Bangladesh with Ibrahim Zadran being the pick of them scoring 22 runs. Hopefully we see India win the toss and elect to bat as I think plenty of runs can be scored once again on the Arun Jaitley Stadium surface.
If you don’t have the suggested three players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining batters for India and Afghanistan in the following order. Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, and Najibullah Zadran.
All-Rounders
The four all-rounders that I am likely going to start will be Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai. Over the last ten matches these players average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
Hardik Pandya – 76 points
Ravindra Jadeja – 70 points
Mohammad Nabi – 57 points
Azmatullah Omarzai – 45 points
My top two all-rounders are Pandya and Nabi for this match. I like Pandya as it seems that the pitch will offer more assistance to the seamers and he bats higher up the order than Jadeja. Even though Nabi is a spin bowler, he generally bowls more overs than the other all-rounders from Afghanistan. Nabi usually bats higher up the order than any of the above all-rounders. Rahmat Shah is the only other all-rounder predicted to play and he is batting all-rounder. He has only bowled 1.1 overs in his last ten ODIs and this is why he will be missing out on my squad today.
Bowlers
The three bowlers that I am likely going to start will be Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj. Over the last ten matches these players average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
Jasprit Bumrah – 96 points
Kuldeep Yadav – 87 points
Mohammed Siraj – 78 points
I think the above three bowlers will likely be a handful for the Afghanistan batters due to the favourable conditions for quick bowlers. Against Australia, these three bowlers picked up five of the ten wickets, imagine what they can do on a more favourable pitch. None of the bowlers from Afghanistan showed much promise in a fantasy sense against Bangladesh. With them coming up against one of the best batting top orders in one day cricket, it may be a tough day for them. The pick of the Afghanistan bowlers for me would be Farooqi as he usually takes the new ball. Khan is usually a pretty good player to start as well but I don’t think the conditions will suit him as much as other bowlers.
If you don’t have the suggested three players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining bowlers for India and Afghanistan in the following order. Fazalhaq Farooqi, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq and Mujeeb ur Rahman.
Wicket Keeper
The wicket keeper that I am likely going to start will be KL Rahul. Over the last ten matches the wicket keepers from these teams average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
KL Rahul – 66 points
Ishan Kishan – 40 points
Rahmanullah Gurbaz – 52 points
There are arguments for all these players to start to be honest. Rahul is coming off a 97 not out against Australia, Kishan and Gurbaz both open the batting. Both Kishan and Gurbaz are both great POD options in this match and I favour Gurbaz as he will be behind the stumps for Afghanistan. If Afghanistan win the toss and elects to bat, I think the conditions will suit Gurbaz. During the recent IPL, he scored 81 runs off 39 balls at this ground. However, I do think Rahul is the safer option today.