India will take on Afghanistan in their first Super Eight clash of the ICC T20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on Thursday, June 20th. (Full Coverage|More Cricket News)
India come into the fixture on the back of a very good group stage momentum, winning three of their four games with one of them being washed out due to rain. The Rohit Sharma-led unit will look to build on the momentum and go further in the tournament.
On the other hand, Afghanistan had very impressive outings, as they finished second in their group with six points from four games, beating Uganda, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
Here are the three key player battles worth looking out for in the IND vs AFG match:-
Rohit Sharma Vs Fazalhaq Farooqi
India skipper Rohit Sharma will look to take on the opposition right from the get-to to set his team a perfect platform to go big at the middle and final stages of the innings. However, to stop the exact same thing, Afghanistan will look towards Fazalhaq Farooqi to make the ball talk early on in the powerplay and unsettle the Indian batting order.
Virat Kohli Vs Rashid Khan
Virat Kohli, opening the batting for India has not had the tournament he would have liked thus far. However, the big players usually step up during the big occasions and India’s milestone man will look to go big against Afghanistan. But, Rashid Khan will be hopeful of spinning around the Indian batting unit, creating pressure and putting them on the backfoot during the middle phase of the game.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz Vs Jasprit Bumrah
Afghanistan’s aggressive opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz will be itching to go all guns blazing in the first six overs of the innings to help his side set a proper launchpad for the middle overs. However, he will be on the other side of one of the world’s best bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah to tackle. The 30-year-old with his brilliant variations will be eager to pick up quick wickets for the spinners to then take over and build pressure.
