India vs Afghanistan 2024 T20Is: All you need to know
India will take on Afghanistan in a three-match T20I series at home from January 11 to January 17. The series will be significant since it will be the last T20 assignment for the Men in Blue before the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will be played in the United States and the West Indies from June 1 to June 29. Of course, most of the Indian players will feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL) that will be held ahead of the ICC event.
Coming to the series against Afghanistan, there was a significant development in the Indian team selection as Rohit Sharma has been recalled to the T20I squad and will lead the team in three matches.
Senior batter Virat Kohli has also been handed a T20I comeback, although he will miss the first match due to personal reasons. Both Rohit and Kohli have not played a T20I since the Men in Blue’s semi-final exit from the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.
Over the last couple of years, Team India have banked on youngsters, with Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav leading the T20I side. However, injuries to both have seen the selectors do a U-turn on their earlier decision to keep Kohli and Rohit out of the T20I scheme of things.
As India prepare to take on Afghanistan in the three-match T20I series, here’s a detailed preview of the contest.
India vs Afghanistan 2024 T20Is: Schedule
Below is the schedule for the India vs Afghanistan 2024 T20I series.
January 11: India vs Afghanistan, 1st T20I, Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali (7:00 PM IST)
January 14: India vs Afghanistan, 2nd T20I, Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore (7:00 PM IST)
January 17: India vs Afghanistan, 3rd T20I, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru (7:00 PM IST)
India vs Afghanistan 2024 T20Is: Squads
Take a look at the squads of both teams for the T20I series.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi.
Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Hazratullah Zazai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Qais Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Karim Janat, Ikram Alikhil, Fareed Ahmad Malik.
India vs Afghanistan T20Is: Head-to-Head stats
India and Afghanistan have met each other in the T20I format five times, with the Men in Blue winning four matches and Afghanistan none. One game produced no result.
The Men in Blue and Afghanistan first met in T20Is at Gros Islet in St Lucia during the 2010 T20 World Cup. Team India won the contest by seven wickets. Ashish Nehra claimed 3/19 as Afghanistan were held to 115/8 batting first. Murali Vijay hit 48 off 46 as India raced past the target in 14.5 overs.
The most recent T20I encounter between India and Afghanistan took place in Hangzhou in October 2023 in the Asian Games final. The match produced no result as Afghanistan scored 112/5 in 18.2 overs, but no further play was possible. The Men in Blue, by having a higher seeding, won the gold medal.
Who is the only player to score a hundred in India vs Afghanistan T20Is?
Kohli is the only batter to score a hundred in India vs Afghanistan T20Is. He clobbered 122* off only 61 balls during the 2022 Asia Cup in Dubai. The blazing knock featured 12 fours and six sixes as India posted 212/2 batting first and won the game by a mammoth margin of 101 runs.
The 35-year-old is also the leading run-getter in India vs Afghanistan T20Is. In two innings, he has 172 runs to his name at a strike rate of 172 with one hundred and one fifty.
Who has claimed the most wickets in India vs Afghanistan T20Is?
Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin are the joint-leading wicket-takers in India vs Afghanistan T20Is. Kumar registered exceptional figures of 5/4 in Dubai during the 2022 Asia Cup, the same match in which Kohli struck a hundred.
Kumar’s figures are the best in India vs Afghanistan T20Is. Interestingly, the Asia Cup 2022 match in Dubai is the only T20I he has played against Afghanistan so far.
Ashwin has played three T20Is against Afghanistan, claiming five wickets at an average of 12.20 and an impressive economy rate of 5.08.
India vs Afghanistan T20Is: Live telecast and live streaming details in India
In India, the live telecast of the three T20Is will be available on Sports18-1 SD + HD and Colors Cineplex. The coverage of the matches will begin at 6:00 PM IST, while the games will get start at 7:00 PM IST.
The live streaming of the India vs Afghanistan T20Is in India will be available on the JioCinema app and website.