India are set to face Afghanistan in yet another important clash in the group stage. A win in this game will help India closer to finishing in top four. However, both sides had different results till now.
India are utterly dominant with their proceedings since the start of the world cup. They simply brushed aside South Africa, Australia and Pakistan. The men in blue are looking like a completely balanced side. Meanwhile, India shared a point with New Zealand due to washout.
On the other hand, Afghanistan had a difficult world cup so far. The newly emerging cricketing nation, have not played to their full potential yet. But they are no pushovers. However, the results did not go their way. Afghanistan lost their first five games before heading into the clash. But they were close to winning against Sri Lanka.
They also put very good effort in their opening match against Australia. But their last game against England was a hard one to digest. The English batsmen toyed with Afghan bowling as Eoin Morgan scored record 17 sixes in his innings alone. They need to come up with something special to keep India at bay.
India are currently facing an injury crisis despite the positive results. They already lost Shikhar Dhawan due to thumb injury. He was ruled out of the tournament and Rishabh Pant is named as his replacement.
Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar Kumar suffered a hamstring injury against Pakistan on Sunday. He is expected to be sidelined for at least two to three matches. However, Vijay Shankar is the latest to join the injury list.
Vijay Shankar hurt his toe while facing Jasprit Bumrah in training session on Thursday.
In all likelihood, Vijay Shankar could be rested for the Afghanistan match. This will open door for one of Dinesh Karthik or Rishabh Pant to fill the vacant middle order spot.
Afghanistan also had their share of injury concerns. Mohammad Shehzad was ruled out of world cup with injury.
Match Prediction
Afghanistan are a surprise pack on their day. However, they are still a growing cricketing nation and are below India in terms of individual quality. On the other side, they are not even playing at their best.
Meanwhile, India are playing their best ODI cricket in this world cup. They are making opponents look weak in their matches. It will tough for Afghanistan to win this game. Even at their peak, it is tough for Afghanistan to beat this Indian team, who are in purple patch at the moment.
The prediction is an easy win for India with a hard fought effort from Afghanistan.