India won the toss and elected to bowl first against Afghanistan in the second T20I of the three-match series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Tuesday.
India made one change to the playing XI, bringing in leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi for the injured Varun Chakaravarthy, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the series with a side strain. Afghanistan, meanwhile, retained an unchanged team.
India are looking to seal the series after a dominant performance in the opening match, while Afghanistan will aim to bounce back and keep the contest alive.
Afghanistan’s batting struggled early in the first T20I before Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi put together an 83-run partnership to help the visitors reach 156. India chased down the target comfortably, with Abhishek Sharma leading the charge with a blistering 82 off just 32 balls.
India’s bowlers also played a key role in the opening game. Jasprit Bumrah and Chakaravarthy kept the Afghan batters under pressure, while Arshdeep Singh claimed three wickets.
Speaking after winning the toss, India captain Shreyas Iyer said the team preferred to bowl first after assessing the conditions.
“We are going to bowl first. You have a fair idea of how the wicket plays, and it gives the bowlers an idea, a little bit of an advantage,” Iyer said. He added that India could have been more clinical with the ball in the previous game and confirmed Bishnoi’s inclusion in place of Chakaravarthy.
Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran said his side would also have preferred to bowl first and promised a more positive effort after their slow start in the opener.
“We want to play positive cricket; we didn’t get a good start that day, but we covered in the middle. We will try to do better tonight,” Zadran said, confirming that Afghanistan were playing the same XI.
India’s bowling depth will be tested in the absence of Chakaravarthy, with Hardik Pandya also unavailable. Afghanistan, meanwhile, need a stronger start with the bat and a much-improved bowling effort to prevent India from wrapping up the series.
Playing XIs
India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravi Bishnoi.
Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi.