Last Updated on 1 year ago by Charbel Coorey

T20 WC 2021 Match 33: IND vs AFG Dream11 Prediction & Fan2Play Possible Playing 11 Pitch Report | IND vs AFG Dream11 Prediction Today | India vs Afghanistan Key Players | Abu Dhabi Pitch Report

Who could have possibly imagined that India would be in this position after just two matches? Favourites heading into this World Cup courtesy of the conditions and their players having a lot of T20 cricket under their belt, Virat Kohli’s team just hasn’t got going at all, slipping to heavy defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand.

Now, they are clinging on to any hope they can find. They will need to inflict their own heavy defeat on Afghanistan, and hope today’s opponents then beat New Zealand. It looks like a tall order, but to have any chance of it come to fruition, India will need to throw caution to the wind and play with freedom. It is a situation that demands an attitude of “whatever happens, happens“, which calls on this India team to overcome criticsm, and in some cases, unfortunately, terrible online abuse.

However, it would be unfair to focus only on India’s struggles without celebrating Afghanistan. The Afghans have caused India issues in the ODI format before, and given the stark difference in form between the two sides (albeit Afghanistan have played lesser experienced teams), there is no doubt that Mohammad Nabi’s team will give everything they have in this huge clash. Remember, they came out blazing against Pakistan, and if it comes off here, India will need to find inspiration which could be tough given they have only taken two wickets in the tournament to date.

Key Players to Watch/Key Stats

India:

• Cometh the hour, cometh the skipper. This is a big game for Virat Kohli, who has the potential to take the game away from Afghanistan. Will we see a fearless Virat today?
• Virat struck a 39-ball 50 in his only T20I vs Afghanistan, back in 2012. However, Virat will be looking to improve on his recent form at Abu Dhabi. Overall, he has scored 165 runs in eight matches on this ground at an average of 27.50 and strike rate of 111.49.
• Rohit Sharma has looked out of sorts. But, if there is a ground Rohit will bounce back at, it’s Abu Dhabi given he performed well here in last year’s IPL. Rohit has scored 323 runs overall at this ground at an average of 32.30 and strike rate of 127.67.
• This situation for India is similar to what Mumbai Indians faced in the recent IPL. They had to throw caution to the wind, and it suited Ishan Kishan who struck 50* (25) and 84 (32) in his last two matches of that tournament.
• Kishan at Abu Dhabi: 8 innings, 216 runs, avg. 30.86, SR 145.95.
• Could this be the game where Hardik Pandya finds his range? He has a great record at Abu Dhabi, with 240 runs in 10 matches at an average of 48.00 and strike rate of 171.43.
• Jasprit Bumrah is India’s only wicket-taker so far in this T20 World Cup. He was impressive against New Zealand, taking 2/17. Also, Bumrah has a great record at this ground, with 20 scalps in 11 matches at an economy rate of 7.25.
• Shardul Thakur has taken seven wickets in five matches on this ground at an economy rate of 6.95. Mohammed Shami took a hat-trick against Afghanistan in the 2019 ODI World Cup.

Afghanistan:

• Mohammad Shahzad has an ODI century to his name vs India, achieved in the 2018 Asia Cup in Dubai (124). He has threatened to score big in this tournament, with scores of 22, 8 and 45.
• Shahzad has a steady record at this ground: 9 inns, 230 runs, avg. 25.56, SR 123.66.
• Hazratullah Zazai looked good for his 44 and 33 vs Scotland and Namibia respectively, but scored a duck vs Pakistan. Can he produce the goods against an experienced attack here? He has a strong record at Abu Dhabi: 6 inns, 245 runs, avg. 40.83, SR 173.76.
• Skipper Mohammad Nabi is in excellent form. In fact, he is yet to be dismissed in this tournament. He scored 11* (4) vs Scotland, 35* (32) vs Pakistan and 32* (17) vs Namibia.
• He will be looking to continue improving his batting average of 19.71 in 11 matches on this ground. He also has seven wickets.
• Rashid Khan up against the Indian batting lineup should make for a riveting contest. He has a brilliant 30 wickets in just 19 matches on this ground at an economy rate of 6.07.
• Naveen-ul-Haq was player of the match against Namibia with 3/26. He also bowled well against Pakistan (1/22) and Scotland (1/12).
• Mujeeb ur Rahman’s fitness could be key to Afghanistan’s hopes. He took 5/20 vs Scotland and 1/14 vs Pakistan. Also, Mujeeb concedes just 3.45 runs per over against India in ODI cricket. Tough to get away.

Stats and Facts

• India have won both T20Is against Afghanistan: in 2010 and 2012.
• Defeat for India today will officially end their campaign. Afghanistan will take a huge step towards qualification with a win.
• KL Rahul at Abu Dhabi: 8 matches, 207 runs, avg. 34.50, SR 111.89. However, he has a poor record against Rashid Khan in T20 cricket (18 runs, 30 balls, three dismissals).
• Ishan Kishan vs Rashid Khan: 51 balls, 64 runs, no dismissals.

Possible Playing 11

The move to play Rohit Sharma at three didn’t work. So, KL Rahul is likely to drop down to either three or four.

Also, India could look to play R Ashwin to counter Afghanistan’s left-handers.

India: 1. Rohit Sharma, 2. Ishan Kishan, 3. Virat Kohli (c), 4. KL Rahul, 5. Rishabh Pant (wk), 6. Hardik Pandya, 7. Ravindra Jadeja, 8. Shardul Thakur, 9. Mohammed Shami, 10. Varun Chakravarthy/R Ashwin, 11. Jasprit Bumrah

Asghar Afghan played his final international against Namibia. Hashmatullah Shahidi could come in. Also, it remains to be seen if Mujeeb ur Rahman is fit to play after missing the match against Namibia.

Afghanistan: 1. Hazratullah Zazai, 2. Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 3. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 4. Hashmatullah Shahidi/Usman Ghani, 5. Mohammad Nabi, 6. Najibullah Zadran, 7. Gulbadin Naib, 8. Rashid Khan, 9. Karim Janat/Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10. Naveen-ul-Haq, 11. Hamid Hassan

Abu Dhabi Pitch Report and Weather

The surface for the South Africa-Bangladesh game yesterday was a beauty for the seamers. Kagiso Rabada (three wickets), Anrich Nortje (three wickets) and Taskin Ahmed (two wickets) wreaked havoc. In fact, fast bowlers (308 wickets, econ. 8) have performed better than spinners (128 wickets, econ. 7.6) at this venue in 2021.

Chasing teams have won six of the eight matches on this ground in this tournament. However, India needs a big win, so they could choose to bat first if they win the toss and aim for a big score.

Dream11 Prediction

Note: Teams below are not based on the final playing XIs. We may not be able to update these teams in time after the final playing XIs have been announced.

Option 1:

Option 2:

Fan2Play Prediction

Base team:

• Wicket-keepers: Mohammad Shahzad, Ishan Kishan
• Batsmen: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli
• All-rounders: Mohammad Nabi, Ravindra Jadeja
• Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Rashid Khan

Match Prediction

India are in terrible form, but they have enough pedigree and experience to win this. I get the feeling that they will throw all caution to the wind and produce a strong performance.