- India beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets in World Cup
- Rashid Khan gets the wicket of Rohit Sharma, India is at 206/2 after 25 overs
- India is at 194/1 after 23 overs
- Rashid Khan gets the wicket of Ishan Kishan, India is at 156/1 after 18.4 overs
- India is at 155/0 after 18.2 overs
- Rohit Sharma reigns as first Indian to hit seven World Cup centuries, surpasses Sachin Tendulkar
- Rohit Sharma slams 31st century in 63 balls
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India is at 135/0 after 15.3 overs
- India is at 94/0 after 10 overs
- Rohit Sharma surpasses Chris Gayle to become the batter with most sixes in international cricket
- Rohit sharma slams his 53rd half century in 30 balls
- Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan start India's innings, score 37/0 after five overs
- Afghanistan displays resilience with a solid middle-order performance, setting a challenging target of 273 runs for India to chase
- Afghanistan's score 272/8 after 50 overs
- Jasprit Bumrah gets the wicket of Rashid Khan, Afghanistan is at 261/8 after 48.1 overs
- Afghanistan is at 238/7 after 46 overs
- Jasprit Bumrah gets the wicket of Najibullah Zadran, Afghanistan is at 225/5 after 42.4 overs
- Kuldeep Yadav gets the wicket of Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan is at 225/5 after 42.4 overs
- Afghanistan is at 214/4 after 41 overs
- Afghanistan is at 194/4 after 36 overs
- Hardik Pandya gets the wicket of Azmatullah Omarzai
- Afghanistan is at 137/3 after 29 overs
- Afghanistan is at 93/3 after 22 overs
- India seizes control as Afghanistan top order fumble, score reaches 82/3 in 19 overs
- Afghanistan is at 70/3 after 15 overs
- Shardul Thakur strikes as Rahmat Shah gets out, Afghanistan 63/3 after 13.1 overs
- Hardik Pandya strikes as Rahmanullah Gurbaz gets out, Afghanistan 63/2 after 13 overs
- Afghanistan is at 48/1 after 10 overs
- Jasprit Bumrah strikes as Najibullah Zadran gets out, Afghanistan is at 32/1 after 7 overs
- Afghanistan is at 19/0 after five overs
- Afghanistan is at 6/0 after two overs
- Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first against India
- Afghanistan side remains unchanged while India made one change, bringing in Shardul Thakur in place of Ravichandran Ashwin
Navigating their way through some extreme pressure moments in their tournament opener, India will be eyeing a perfect game against a sprightly Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup here on Wednesday.
As pointed out by skipper Rohit Sharma, India's biggest challenge over the course of the league stage will be to quickly adapt to the conditions in nine different venues.
After a slow and spinning track at Chepauk, a belter of a surface is expected at the Feroz Shah Kotla, where more than 700 runs were plundered in a high-scoring affair between South Africa and Sri Lanka last week.
With Shubman Gill ruled out of the game due to dengue, Ishan Kishan will get another opportunity at the top of the order alongside Rohit.
Kishan and Shreyas Iyer's questionable shot selection against Australia contributed to India's disastrous start and they both would be wiser going into the Afghanistan game.
India's Jasprit Bumrah bowls during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Afghanistan PTI
If Gill is not able to regain full fitness by the Pakistan game three days later, runs on Wednesday will do Kishan a lot of good in his debut ODI World Cup campaign.
Comparatively, facing the Afghan attack upfront would be easier than negotiating the likes of Josh Hazlewood and Mithell Starc.
The smaller dimensions of the ground, where 31 sixes were hammered in the previous game, would also aid strokeplay. The main square was relaid ahead of the World Cup and that has clearly changed the nature of the surface.
The game will also be a homecoming for chase master Virat Kohli who reinforced his credentials batting alongside K L Rahul in Chennai on Sunday night.
Batting in front of pavilion named after him, Kohli will be expected to give his fans another night to remember.
Rahul has been the story of India's batting since Asia Cup last month. Despite criticism, the team management showed unwavering faith in him and he has repaid that and how. He made a fine hundred against Pakistan in his comeback and on Sunday, emerged unscathed in another high pressure situation. In the bowling department, India could be forced to make a change considering the conditions. India ticked all boxes on the bowling front against Australia and got as many as six wickets in the middle overs. If India don't go in with three spinners, then Mohammad Shami can make way for R Ashwin who had a decent outing in Chennai. That could be the only change in the playing eleven.
Coming from a heavy loss against Bangladesh, Afghanistan will be aiming to turn things around in Delhi.
With a sizeable number of Afghans residing in Delhi's Lajpat Nagar, one can expect good support for Hashmatullah Shahidi and his men.
Bowling, mainly spinners, has been been Afghanistan's strong suit over the years and if they are to make an impact in this World Cup, their batters too must step.
Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz seems to the only one in top form. An effort of 156 all out against Bangladesh was not acceptable and the batters will be looking for immediate course correction. Spinner Mujeeb Zadran usually opens the bowling alongisde a pacer while trump card Rashid Khan comes into the attack after the powerplay.
While the teams are forced to take chances against Rashid in the shortest format, batters have time to play him without risk in ODIs. That was evident in the game in Dharamsala where Bangladesh batters collected 48 runs from his nine overs and did not concede a wicket.
Teams
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi. PTI SSC SSC KHS KHS
Match starts: 2:00 pm
