India will lock horns with Afghanistan in their first Super 8 encounter at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown in Barbados on Thursday. India won three of their four matches in Group A while their clash with Canada got called off due to rain. Afghanistan also won three of their four matches in Group C. Their only loss, albeit a big one, was against the hosts West Indies. The last time India and Afghanistan faced each other in a T20I encounter, the match ended in a tie - that happened in Bengaluru in January this year. Both teams have not played at Barbados in this tournament.

LAST 5 MATCHES

INDIA - WWWWA

AFGHANISTAN - WWWWL

India are expected to go with an unchanged XI which means Kuldeep Yadav will still not find a place in the playing XI. Afghanistan might rope in Nangeyalia Kharote for Karim Janat.

THE LIKELY PLAYING XIs FOR INDIA & AFGHANISTAN

India likely XI

Batters - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav

All-Rounders - Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube

Wicketkeeper - Rishabh Pant

Bowlers - Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh

Afghanistan likely XI

Batters - Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Najibulah Zadran

All-Rounders - Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Nangeyalia Kharote

Wicketkeeper - Rahmanullah Gurbaz,

Bowlers - Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Statistical Performance (India)

1. Virat Kohli

The last time Virat Kohli played against Afghanistan, he hammered a ton. That was in the Asia Cup in 2022 and it was Kohli's first hundred in T20I cricket. Kohli has had a quiet tournament so far but is a giant in the format with a great record in T20 World Cups.

VIRAT KOHLI IN T20 WORLD CUPS

2. Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah is an all-time great in white-ball cricket. He was the Player of the Match against Pakistan and Ireland and has been brilliant with the new ball.

JASPRIT BUMRAH IN 2024 T20 WORLD CUP

Players who can make a Difference (India)

1. Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav did not have a great IPL season but is still rated amongst the best T20I batters in the world. SKY has the highest strike rate in the format's history - a staggering 168 - and has already hammered four hundreds and 18 fifties in just 60 innings. SKY is a 360-degrees batter whose unconventional stroke-play might just be the game-changer again on Thursday. SKY has a strike rate of 182 against pace in T20I cricket!

2. Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant's unorthodox stroke-play makes him a match-winner against any opposition. He has been in fine form in the tournament scoring 96 runs in three innings in difficult batting conditions. Pant's ability to get the boundaries behind square makes him a dangerous batter especially if he is batting in the Top 3.

Statistical Performance (Afghanistan)

1. Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Gurbaz is a destructive batter at the top of the order for Afghanistan who will take the attack to the Indian bowlers in the powerplay. Gurbaz has an excellent record in T20 World Cup cricket. He scored a match-winning 80 against New Zealand in this tournament.

RAHMANULLAH GURBAZ IN 2024 T20 WORLD CUP

2. Rashid Khan

Rashid is amongst the greatest bowlers in T20I cricket history and he also has an excellent record in World Cup cricket. Rashid is brilliant against left-handers.

RASHID KHAN IN 2024 T20 WORLD CUP

Players who can make a Difference (Afghanistan)

1. NOOR AHMAD

Noor Ahmad is a talented Chinaman bowler who has picked 97 wickets in 96 T20s at a strike rate of 21 and economy of 7.3. Although he just bagged 8 wickets in 10 matches in IPL 2024, he impressed with his line and length and control and conceded just 8.32 an over in a high-scoring tournament.

2. NAJIBULLAH ZADRAN

Najibullah is a veteran of 106 matches in which he has scored 1811 runs at an average of 29.7 and strike rate of 138. He is a clean striker of the ball and has a scoring rate of 199 in the death overs in T20I cricket.

Team Head to Head

India and Afghanistan have faced each other 8 times in T20I cricket out of which India has won 7 including the Tied encounter in Bengaluru earlier this year. India and Afghanistan have met each other three times in T20 World Cups and all these encounters have been won by India.

INDIA v AFGHANISTAN - HEAD TO HEAD RECORD

Player Head to Head

1. ROHIT SHARMA vs RASHID KHAN IN T20s

INNINGS - 8

BALLS FACED - 40

RUNS SCORED - 55

WICKETS - 4

Rohit Sharma has struggled a bit against Rashid Khan in T20 cricket. The leg spinner has dismissed him 4 times in 8 matches.

2. VIRAT KOHLI vs FAZALHAQ FAROOQI IN T20s

INNINGS - 2

BALLS FACED - 16

RUNS SCORED - 37

WICKETS - 0

Virat Kohli has taken Fazalhaq Farooqi to the cleaners and this will be an interesting battle in the powerplay.

3. RAHMANULLAH GURBAZ vs LEG SPIN IN T20IS SINCE 2022

INNINGS - 9

BALLS FACED - 55

RUNS SCORED - 57

WICKETS - 4

Rahmanullah Gurbaz has found it tough against leg spin in the last couple of years but India are not likely to include Yuzvendra Chahal in the XI.

Venue and Pitch

The Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados has hosted 29 T20I matches and chasing seems to be the preferred option - the captain winning the toss has opted to field on 17 occasions. However, it is advantage batting first at the venue. The team setting a target has won 18 matches while the team chasing has just been victorious in just 8! The average score batting first is 161/7 while the average score in the second innings is 141/7. The win probability after winning the toss is 55.6%.

Barbados has hosted five matches in the tournament so far out of which one ended in a TIE which was decided by the Super Over. The captain winning the toss has preferred to chase on three occasions. The average score batting first in the tournament is 183/6 while the average second innings score is 139/7.

The pitch in Barbados has true bounce, pace and carry and while pacers have enjoyed bowling at the venue, it also has a lot of runs for the batters. The fast bowlers have picked 76% of the wickets in Barbados in the tournament at an average of 19.3, strike rate of 15.5 and economy of 7.4. Spinners do not get much purchase in Barbados. The average temperature on Thursday will be around 28 degrees while there is just a 20% chance of rain.

Match Prediction

India will have the edge at Barbados and more so as the wicket will assist seamers. Afghanistan's spinners will not get much help from the wicket. Virat Kohli has been dismissed for three low-scores in the group stage and expect him to produce a big one on Thursday. The battle between Bumrah and Gurbaz will be crucial in the powerplay. Based on the relative strengths of both teams, form and conditions, India start favourites with a 65% chance of victory.

Fantasy XI

And finally, this is our Fantasy XI for the India vs Afghanistan encounter. We have 7 players from India and 4 from Afghanistan. Gurbaz and Kohli will open the innings while SKY, Pant and Ibrahim Zadran will form the core of the middle order. Hardik Pandya will be the finisher in the slog overs. Bumrah and Farooqi will share the new ball while Rashid Khan and Axar Patel will control the middle overs. Arshdeep will be the specialist in the death overs. We have chosen the in-form Bumrah as captain and Rashid Khan as vice-captain.

Our backup players include Rohit Sharma as batter, Mohammed Siraj as bowler and Mohammad Nabi as all-rounder.

Fantasy XI

Wicketkeeper: RAHMANULLAH GURBAZ

Batters: VIRAT KOHLI, IBRAHIM ZADRAN, SURYAKUMAR YADAV, RISHABH PANT

All-rounders: HARDIK PANDYA, AXAR PATEL, RASHID KHAN (VC)

Bowlers: JASPRIT BUMRAH (C), FAZALHAQ FAROOQI, ARSHDEEP SINGH

BACKUP PLAYERS:

BATTER - ROHIT SHARMA

BOWLER - MOHAMMED SIRAJ

ALL-ROUNDER - MOHAMMAD NABI

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