IND vs AFG ODI Head To Head Stats & Record Ahead of ICC World Cup 2023 Match 9 in Arun Jaitley Stadium

When: India vs Afghanistan, October 11, 2023, 14:00 IST

Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

What to expect: A warm day in the national capital and good conditions for batting. The re-laid surface in Delhi sports a generous smattering of grass. Even if it is not the same strip, it looks a lot like the pitch that saw an aggregate of 754 runs, the fastest World Cup 100 and the highest total in men’s ODI World Cup history. Teams batting first have won five of the last six ODIs here dating back to 2013. But chasing a par total shouldn’t be overly difficult.

Team Watch:

India

Mohammed Shami, who took a hat-trick in this fixture four years ago, is an option on this surface, but to pick him India will have to be willing to sacrifice their batting depth after a not so convincing start against Australia. To that extent, they may consider bringing in Shardul Thakur instead. Shubman Gill is still not available again following his hospitalisation.

Tactics & Strategy:

Mindful of Afghanistan’s stronger spin attack, India could likely take the attack to the quick bowlers. The onus will be on Ishan Kishan to pull his weight in light of the uncertainty around Gill.

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

Afghanistan

Despite defeat in their opener, Afghanistan wouldn’t want to tinker with their combination just yet although a left-arm wrist spinner like Noor Ahmad, with experience of offers good value against a predominantly right-heavy line-up.

Tactics & Strategy:

Fazalhaq Farooqi has 19 wickets in the PowerPlay since the start of 2022, behind only Mohammed Siraj (32) and Matt Henry (20). His left-arm angle against a top-order, that has had issues with it in the past, could be useful in paving the way for Afghanistan to restrict India.

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

IND vs AFG ODI Head To Head Stats & Record Ahead of ICC World Cup 2023

Did you know?

– Left-arm finger spinners have picked 21 wickets in the first six matches at 26.52 in this World Cup.

– Since his comeback, Bumrah has not gone wicketless even once and in the six ODIs he has conceded his runs at an average of 4.89 per over.

– Among members of India’s squad, Jadeja has the most wickets in ODIs against Afghanistan [7 at 10.85] and in Delhi [9 at 20.77]

What they said:

“You know, we play better spin in the nets sessions. Rashid, Nabi, Noor and Mujeeb, we play them every day. So, I think our team is far better in playing spin bowling. So that game [vs Bangladesh] we struggled but you can’t say that you are not good enough [based] on one game.” – Hashmatullah Shahidi on facing an even more potent spin attack than that of Bangladesh’s to whom they lost 6 for 62.

Squads:

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

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

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