Afghanistan vs India Prediction: Who will win today's T20 World Cup 2021 match?
After Mohammed Shami produced a magical spell to restrict Afghanistan to 213, thereby ensuring that India won their 2019 World Cup encounter by a 11-run margin, Gulbadin Naib lamented the mistakes his team made despite having the match in their control. Pointing fingers at the batters failing to convert their starts, Naib pointed out that Afghanistan had to be at their best in what is "tough cricket against high-ranking teams."
Things have been vastly different since that day for Afghanistan, who have braved a period of serious turmoil - both cricket-related and otherwise - to become the seventh-ranked team in the ICC T20I rankings. They are no longer chasing after the pack; they are among the "high-ranking" teams. And while Naib is no longer the captain, Mohammad Nabi is a capable leader who has maximized the resources at his disposal.
India and Afghanistan meet in Match 33 of the 2021 T20 World Cup on Wednesday, November 3 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Strangely, Nabi's men have a superior record in the competition, with wins over Scotland and Namibia on either side of a fighting loss to Group 2 table-toppers Pakistan.
India will fall back on their senior players to keep their drowning semi-final hopes alive. Shami is in a tough period, with ugly abuse hurled at him on social media adding insult to his poor performance with the ball at the T20 World Cup thus far. But he - and India - will take heart from that meeting two years ago, which showed that Afghanistan are not an opposition to be taken lightly.
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T20 World Cup 2021: India hanging on by a thread against buoyant Afghanistan
Rashid Khan has played 76 matches in his Indian Premier League career, so you'd expect the Indian batters to have some ideas to counter him. But even five years after his debut, the Afghan spinner remains an unsolvable mystery. And against a team that has struggled to deal with spin in the middle overs, Rashid will be the player to watch out for once again.
Afghanistan have opted to bring Rashid into the attack around the 10-over mark, leaving Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Nabi and the pacers to do the heavy lifting in the first half of the innings. It remains to be seen if they stick to the same plans, with India's top-order batters having a poor record against Rashid in T20 cricket. Otherwise, Afghanistan will stick to their tested plans, with the retired Asghar Afghan likely to be replaced by Hashmatullah Shahidi.
Hamid Hassan returned to the fold for Afghanistan and immediately added weight to a thin pace attack, picking up three wickets for a meager nine runs. His control and experience will be vital against India, who will invariably take the attack to the pacers.
India need to sort out their opening combination, with Rohit Sharma's demotion to No. 3 failing to pay off in the previous game. The presence of two similar batters in Rohit and Virat Kohli at Nos. 3 and 4 will hurt India, unless they find a way to squeeze either KL Rahul or Ishan Kishan into the middle order. Suryakumar Yadav recovering from his back spasms could not come sooner. Not only would that help restore the Rohit-Rahul partnership, but it would also bolster the middle order with one of the best attacking players of spin in the country.
The toss hasn't been on India's side so far in the T20 World Cup, and they will desperately hope for some luck at the toss. The chasing team will once again have a significant advantage in Abu Dhabi, and India will be concerned with how little penetration they have shown in the second innings.
Nevertheless, unless dew once again plays a massive role, India will still start as the favorites. It's impossible to pick against Kohli's men, who have made a habit of performing with their backs against the wall. While Afghanistan are a capable T20I side who have the potential to make it three out of four in the T20 World Cup, the Men in Blue should dig deep and notch up their first points of the tournament.
Prediction: India to win Match 33 of the T20 World Cup