World Cup ODI 2023

IND vs AFG, Match 9

Preview 

The Host side India will square off against Afghanistan in the 9th match of the World Cup 2023 on Wednesday from Arun Jaitley Staudim, Delhi at 02:00 PM on 11th October 2023. Rohit Sharma-led team India started the tournament with an impressive win over one of their toughest rivals and five-time World Champions Australia. On the other hand, AFG did not get the start of the competition they were looking for after facing a humiliating defeat against Bangladesh in their opening match of the league.

While playing at Chepauk, the Indian bowlers just dismantled the Aussies' middle order and restricted them to under 200 runs. With the courtesy of Men in Blue’s well-oiled bowling that included three wickets from Ravindra Jadeja, two from Bumrah and two from Kuldeep Yadav, and one wicket each from Ashwin, Hardik And Siraj. After winning the toss Australia did not get a positive start, losing Michell Marsh on duck. However, Smith and Warner tried to build a solid partnership until Jadeja delivered a much-needed breakthrough for team India. It would not take much time for Team India to take advantage of Smith’s wicket and bundled up the Aussies for 199 in 49.3 overs. Not even a single player from Australia’s side scored a fifty in that match on a turning track.

While chasing down the target of 200 runs team India got frightening pictures for a while of the 2019 World Cup ODI where they found themselves fumbling on the score of 5/3 against New Zealand. Men in Blue found something similar in that match as well after losing 3 wickets on a mere 2 runs against Australia. The likes of Skipper Rohit Sharma, left-handed batter Ishan Kishan and right-handed batter Shreyas Iyer all three top-order batters departed on duck. However, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul took their time in assessing the conditions of Chepauk’s pitch and guided team India to register a 6 wicket over Australia in their opening fixture. The chase master Virat Kohli rose once again on the big occasion and hammered 85 off 116 balls, smashing 6 fours in his innings. He was well supported by KL Rahul who missed his hundred by 3 runs after hitting the winning runs for India, unleashing 97 off 115 balls with the help of 8 fours and 2 maximums.

Afghanistan has already lost their first game of the World Cup against Shakib Al Hasan-led BAN by 6 wickets. Batting first, Hashmatullah Shahidi-led AFG scored 156 runs after their right-handed opening batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 47 runs. AFG failed to tackle Bangladeshi spinners in the middle of the game losing 8 wickets for 44 runs as a result the side could not be able to play 50 overs completely. The Afghani bowlers gave a fiery start by sending both openers within 5 overs but the spinners couldn’t emulate the success of their rivals and Bangladesh drew the first blood against AFG.

Both sides played their last ODI against each other back in World Cup 2019. To everyone’s surprise, AFG came close to ending India’s unbeaten run in the World Cup by restricting them to 224 in 50 overs in England. With 12 needed in the last 5 balls, the veteran bowler of the side M. Shami took a hat-trick to help IND win the game by 11 runs, becoming the 10th bowler to get a hat-trick in the ODI World Cup. In 3 ODIs, Men in Blue has 2 wins over Afghanistan including one in the World Cup 2019. One game ended in a tie where M. Shahzad scored a century (124), the only century between IND and AFG matches. Moreover, for this match, team India's opening batter Shubman Gill is likely to miss out on this match against AFG after he was discharged from the hospital after recovering from a bout of dengue fever but he was not announced fully fit for this match.

Match Details

Match: IND vs AFG, 9th Match, World ODI Cup 2023

Date: Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Time: 2:00 PM

Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

Pitch and Weather Report 

This track is traditionally known for being batter-friendly with short boundaries. It often offers good bounce and carries well to the boundary. on this track at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Spinners can also find assistance as the match progresses, with the pitch tending to wear and crack. Arun Jaitley Stadium has a capacity of 48,000 spectators and has hosted 37 Tests, 29 ODIs, & 13 T20Is. In 2014, The Proteas recorded the highest total on the ground (428) against the Lankan Lions in the 4th match of the ongoing World Cup ODI Edition. However, SA also has the lowest total (99) on the same ground. 

In 29 ODIs, the results have the same favour for teams chasing or defending the target on this pitch. The toss is going to be very crucial on this paradise-like track, the team winning the toss first would like to put a big score on the board. The average innings score in these 6 matches was 293. It is going to be a good contest on this pitch.

It is expected to be mostly cloudy conditions in Delhi for this match on Wednesday. There is a 41% humidity chance without any run interfernce. 

IND vs AFG Squads

IND: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav 

AFG: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Azmatullah Omarzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Rahman, Ikram Alikhil

IND vs AFG Probable Playing XIs

IND: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

AFG: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmat Shah, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan,Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Azmatullah Omarzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Match Prediction

Rohit Sharma-led team India has been looked at as the favourite to win this World Cup at home. On the home ground, it is difficult for any team to tackle team India. On this pitch, IND has won 7 of their last 10 matches with a win record of 70%. Besides this, India has an unbeaten record against AFG. Men in Blue's batting lineup is so strong for the AFG bowling attack. On the other hand, Afghanistan has lost 15 of their 16 World Cup ODI Matches. We reckon India to start as a favourite for this match, having the advantage of home conditions.

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