FANTASY
Follow UsIndia will take on Afghanistan in Match 33 of the ICC T2O World Cup 2021 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Wednesday (November 3). Virat Kohli and Co. are more or less out of the semifinal race and will need quite a few things to go in their favour if they want to qualify for the knockouts. They not only have to win their remaining three games by big margins but would also hope that Afghanistan and New Zealand lose at least one of their remaining encounters. Even if that happens, India (-1.609) are way behind Afghanistan (+3.097) and New Zealand (+0.765) in terms of NRR.
Suggested teams
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. You can use this tool to build your team with the help of algorithms. Then, based on your preferences, the platform will guide you through creating the ideal fantasy XI.
Ground details and team combination
The Sheikh Zayed Stadium has hosted four games so far in the Super 12 stage and the batters here have scored runs at an average of 18.3 and a strike rate of 105.8 - the least amongst all three venues used for the Super 12 stage. Meanwhile, a wicket has fallen every 18.4 deliveries. If you compare them with spinners, seamers here have a better average (16.9 v 23.1) and strike rate (21.6). However, it would still be ideal to have both Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (subject to fitness) in your XI.
Captain
KL Rahul has only managed scores of 3 and 18 in the first two encounters but the right-handed opener was still India’s most in-form batter coming into this tournament. He not only is coming on the back of a 626-run IPL season, he also looked in ominous touch in the warm-up matches against England and Australia. The 29-year-old will be eager to turn things around after failing to make any impact in the first two games and get India off to a blistering start. However, Rahul will have to be careful against Rashid Khan.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Rahul to score 24-36 runs in this match.
X-factors
India have picked up only two wickets in the first two games and both have come off Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling. Apart from him, no other Indian bowler has looked threatening in this tournament. The ace paceman was the third-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2021 and would enjoy bowling in Abu Dhabi.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Bumrah to pick up 1-2 wickets in this match.
Rashid Khan was one of the few positives to emerge out of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) finishing with 18 wickets at an economy rate of 6.69. He has continued his good form in the World Cup as well, having picked up seven wickets in three matches so far in the 10.2 overs he has bowled in the tournament. Nobody has picked up more wickets than Rashid (64) in T20s this year and Afghanistan will bank on him to deliver once again. On top of that, the legspinner has a very solid record against most of the Indian batters.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Rashid to pick up 2-3 wickets in this match.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman has picked up six wickets from his eight overs in the tournament so far, striking once every eight deliveries. Furthermore, he has conceded at an economy rate of 4.25 and has a bowling average of 5.66 – all of which are staggering numbers. The 20-year-old didn’t play the last game against Namibia but the team management would be eager to get him back on the field against India. If fit and available, Mujeeb could prove to be a game-changer for Afghanistan.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Mujeeb to pick up 2-3 wickets in this match.
Predicted XIs
India - Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami/R Ashwin/Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
Afghanistan - Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Nabi (c), Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat/Mujeeb Ur Rahman (subject to fitness), Hamid Hassan, Naveen-ul-Haq.