India vs Afghanistan, 2nd T20I: Toss result and playing XIs for today's match, umpires list and pitch report
India will take on Afghanistan at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Sunday, January 14 in the second T20I of the three-match series. The Men in Blue are 1-0 up in the series and will look to take an unassailable lead with another victory in the Indore T20I.
The hosts won the toss and invited Afghanistan to bat in the first match in Mohali. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel and right-arm pacer Mukesh Kumar claimed two wickets each as India restricted Afghanistan to 158/5.
Veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi top-scored for Afghanistan with an impressive 42 off 27. Shivam Dube (60* off 40), however, guided India to victory, while Jitesh Sharma (31 off 20) also chipped in.
The second game of the series will mark the comeback of Virat Kohli to the T20I format. The former India captain missed the first T20I due to personal seasons. Lot of fans will be excited to see the Ro-Ko (Rohit Sharma-Virat Kohli) pair together in the T20 format for India again.
Today's IND vs AFG toss result
India have won the toss and have opted to bowl first again. Speaking about the decision, Rohit said:
“No particular reason - just nature of the ground especially the small boundaries.”
The Men in Blue have made two chances to their playing XI. Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal are back for Shubman Gill and Tilak Varma. For Afghanistan, Noor Ahmad is playing, while Rahmat Shah is out of the playing XI.
IND vs AFG - Today's match playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (w), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (w), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Today's IND vs AFG pitch report
Nick Knight and Deep Dasgupta reckon that the pitch is Indore is a flat one. They don't think the ball will move around much as even the cracks that are present are hard. The duo feels that there might be a bit of movement with the new ball on a pitch they described as a batting paradise. Dew could be a factor in the second innings.
Today's IND vs AFG match players list
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan.
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, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Ikram Alikhil.
IND vs AFG - Today's match umpires
On-field umpires: Rohan Pandit, Virender Sharma
TV umpire: Jayaraman Madanagopal
Match Referee: Javagal Srinath