The last and only time India faced Afghanistan in the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup, Afghanistan gave them quite a scare. At the 2019 World Cup, Afghanistan came very close to ending India’s unbeaten streak, but India managed to edge them by only 11 runs.

Mohammad Nabi’s valiant knock took the chase right down to the wire, but the Indian bowlers eventually prevailed.

This time around, India head into the fixture at the back of a six-wicket win over Australia, while Afghanistan come into the match after losing their tournament opener to Bangladesh in Dharamsala. India remain favourites in this short and one sided-rivalry, especially in home conditions. But as Afghanistan showed the last time, they are capable of causing upsets.

Afghanistan have lost six One-Day International matches in a row now and it is not the ideal form with which to expect their first World Cup win. The idea of getting that win especially against hosts and top-ranked India makes it an even daunting task.

However, the Hashmatullah Zahidi-led squad have built a reputation in world cricket, in just their third edition in the World Cup for a reason.

India, meanwhile, will be aware of not repeating the same mistakes they did in Chennai that resulted in a top-order batting collapse with their side reduced to 2/3. It can be tempting to shuffle around their bowlers against Afghanistan but India are unlikely to tinker with a settled playing eleven early in the tournament.

Conditions and pitch report

The last game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi was a run-fest between South Africa and Sri Lanka as over 750 runs were scored in 94 overs. There were three centurions for South Africa that day. It will continue to be a hot day in Delhi with the temperature touching 35 degrees but the weather and pitch can both be a bit variable in the second half of the day.

The Proteas had managed to pile on 400+ runs during the first half itself. It looked like a largely good pitch, with a fast outfield and the small boundaries ensure we are in for another batters’ paradise.

Key players

India: Virat Kohli, who doesn’t play in his state as much anymore, still is the top-performing active ODI batter at this venue with 222 runs in seven matches at an average of 44.40. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer had been with Delhi Capitals for a fair bit and knows a thing or two about exploiting the conditions of this ground. He has scored 852 runs in 23 matches in the IPL at this venue and will be expected to put up a better show after getting out for a duck in the opener against Australia.

Afghanistan: Rashid Khan is a key player for Afghanistan on most occassions but especially in India, simply by virtue of having the most experience of playing here. His form in ODIs has been a concern off-late considering he has picked up just nine wickets in nine matches this year but he will still be expected to trouble the Indian batters. While opening duo Rahmatullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, have done the bulk of the scoring for their team this year, it is their veteran Nabi who has the tendency to perform well against India with two half-centuries in three matches.

India v Afghanistan head-to-head record

Last meetings:

Jun 22, 2019: Southampton – India won by 7 wickets

Sep 25, 2018: Dubai – Tied

Mar 5, 2014: Mirpur – India won by 8 wickets

Overall:

India: 2 wins

Afghanistan: 0

Tied: 1

No Result: 0

The match will be be live streamed on Disney+Hotstar and broadcast live on Star Sports.