Dubai - After registering an emphatic nine-wicket win over Pakistan to secure a place in the finals, Team India will aim to continue their unbeaten streak when they take on Afghanistan in their last Super Four tie at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.
India have been invincible in the six-nation tournament as they defeated Pakistan twice, besides notching up wins against Hong Kong and Bangladesh. The Rohit Sharma-led side started their title defence in a little shoddy manner as they were made to toil hard by Hong Kong in their opening game of the 2018 edition of the tournament. However, since then, the team has come out with clinical performances to seal their berth in the summit clash.
In the batting department, openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit have been in immaculate form and have showcased their mastery in the limited-overs format. Despite having little opportunity, other batsmen like Ambati Rayadu, MS Dhoni and others have also been in a good run.
The bowling also looks quite comfortable with pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have led from the front. While Bhuvneshwar has been able to give India some early breakthroughs, Bumrah has been brilliant at the death as we saw in the game against Pakistan on Sunday. Spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have also been pretty good. Ravindra Jadeja, who replaced injured Hardik Pandya, has grabbed the opportunity with both hands and has been absolutely brilliant with the ball and on the field.
On the other hand, Afghanistan, who entered the Super Four after convincing wins over Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, have not been able to hold on the crunch situations. Their lack of experience and the inability to handle the pressure has led to their downfall in the last four stage. Afghanistan saw themselves getting out of contention to make it to the summit clash after being beaten by Bangladesh by a narrow margin of three runs on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
India will use Tuesday’s match as an opportunity to give rest to some of their key players before the finals to be played on Friday against Pakistan/Bangladesh while providing—players who have been sitting in the dressing room—some match practice.
SQUADS
INDIA: Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Siddarth Kaul, K Khaleel Ahmed.
AFGHANISTAN: Asghar Afghan(c), M Shahzad, Ihsanullah Janat, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, M Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Najibullah Zadran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Aftab Alam, Samiullah Shenwari, Munir Ahmad, Sayed Shirzad, Sharafuddin Ashraf.
