 The third T20I game of the ICC World T20 will be played between India and Afghanistan. India were the champions in the first edition of the tournament but
had crashed out in the Super Eights round of the second edition, whereas this
is the first time Afghanistan will play in an ICC event. This is a group C match,
in which South Africa is the third team. India play South Africa after this game.
Click for Live Score Card of India vs AfghanistanThe Indians will be a very tired lot. After all, all the players except Ravindra Jadeja had participated in the IPL, which means that they would be struggling
to get their full fitness going. Virender Sehwag will already miss out of the
tournament with a shoulder injury and that was due to the IPL and if the Indians
were to lose another couple of rather important players, then, it could severely
hamper their side's preparations for the tournament.
The good thing for India is that their captain is in much better spirits than
he was, in the previous edition of the ICC World T20 in England. Then,
the Sehwag injury issue had played itself up and caused much fire in the side,
and that had led to the captain parading all the 15 players in front of the
media, and that had also led to their second round exit from the tournament.
This time around, against a side like Afghanistan, they cannot afford
to relax, and that is for the simple reason that the opposition has performed
rather well in the lead-up to this tournament. Afghanistan have beaten most
of the other Associate nations like Ireland and Scotland with total ease, and
if there was a format in which they could also cause an upset, this could just
be the one!
Mohammad Nabi is one of their best players around so and he is an excellent
all-rounder that the Indians will need to contend with. Apart from his, Hamid Hasan has been doing rather well too, and in captain Nowroz Mangal, they
have an able leader who has been able to lead them despite all the issues back
home, and lead them rather well.
The Afghanistan team had recently won the ACC tournament by beating the likes
of Nepal, Hong Kong and Malaysia, and will go into the tournament with
much to look forward to. And if the Indians do take them lightly, they may run
the risk of losing the game!
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