2023 World Cup: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today’s India vs Afghanistan match ft. Jasprit Bumrah
India and Afghanistan have gotten off to contrasting starts in the 2023 World Cup. While the hosts took a clinical win over Australia, a match they'd been okay with not winning in the context of the tournament, Afghanistan suffered a massive defeat against Bangladesh, a clash they'd wanted to win when the schedule came out.
Still, by no means today's game can be ruled out as a one-sided dead-rubber before it has even started. Afghanistan came tantalizingly close to beating one of the best Indian ODI World Cup teams in the 2019 edition in England. It required a Mohammed Shami hat-trick in the final over to save the points for India.
They have only improved these years with an explosive T20-style batting lineup and a bowling attack well-suited to the conditions. They won't be pushovers. India will need their batting lineup to score big like always but they have also looked a bit too reliant on their bowling attack over the past 12 months.
Below are three bowlers who we think can take the most wickets today and shape the game:
#3 Rashid Khan
You can't keep Rashid Khan out of such lists, even if everything's going against him. The pitch in Delhi looked flat and only slightly helpful for pacers. The short boundaries made it a death bowl for Sri Lanka's spinners too.
Rashid went wicketless in the previous match against Bangladesh. There were signs that teams might look to play him out instead of attacking him.
Still, this is the most successful overseas spinner in the IPL we are talking about. Rashid has 139 wickets in just 109 IPL matches at an average of 20.75.
Although KL Rahul put pressure on Adam Zampa and Virat Kohli played him well in Chennai, India have had a bit of a problem against leg-spinners of late. If his teammates support him, Rashid could be a real wicket-taking threat in Delhi.
#2 Fazalhaq Farooqi
Since 2022, only one Afghan bowler has taken more wickets than Rashid (32) in ODIs - left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi (33). He swings the ball both ways, has a good repertoire of slower ones, and is coming off good T20 seasons.
India's left-am swing problem is well known and Farooqi can hit that in the powerplay, which has also emerged as a bit of weakness for the hosts.
In Axar Patel's absence, India are also a bit thin on batting in the lower order. They might drop Ravichandran Ashwin for the extra pacer in Mohammed Shami or Shardul Thakur here and trust their top-six to do the job.
This will give Farooqi and other Afghan bowlers a good chance of taking a handful of wickets at the death.
#1 Jasprit Bumrah
This could be Jasprit Bumrah's match to grab a big wicket-taking haul. After bowling his heart out and taking two wickets in Chepauk on a pitch that offered zilch for him, he's coming to Delhi full of confidence and rhythm.
Bumrah was the Player of the Match in the 2019 World Cup match against Afghanistan because of his frugal, double-wicket-taking spell in the middle overs. If the Bangladesh match is anything to go by, middle overs are still Afghanistan's Achilles heel where their batters' lack of experience comes to the fore.
Some swing, extra pace, and pinpoint accuracy might see Bumrah turn up with one of the most rewarding displays of his ODI career today.