T20 WC: Kuldeep replaces Siraj as India win toss, opt to bat first against Afghanistan
India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first in their first match of Super 8s of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024 against Afghanistan at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
The left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav replaces right-arm seamer Mohammed Siraj in the playing XI for this match.
India ended their group stage with three wins in three matches against Ireland, Pakistan and the USA in Group A while their last game against Canada ended in a washout. Afghanistan ended the group stage in second place in Group C, with three wins and a loss to West Indies.
“We are going to bat first. Looks alright at this moment, looks a good track. No grass on the pitch, I guess it will get slower. It’s better than New York. We have to adapt to the conditions quickly. We have been here for a couple of days, we have played a lot of cricket. It’s about understanding what we need to do in conditions like these. It’s an early start. Usually start in the evening elsewhere. We enjoy playing here. We have made one change, Kuldeep comes in for Siraj,” Rohit said after winning the toss.
Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan stated that if he had won the toss then he would have elected to bat first as well.
“We would have liked to bat first. It’s more about how you play the game in T20s. Happy with our preparations and how things have gone. We are facing good teams, need to control our emotions and play our natural game. It does help getting used to the conditions. We have to play good cricket. We have one change, Karim Janat is not playing, Zazai comes in,” Rashid said.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Gulbadin Naib, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
