India vs Afghanistan 1st T20I: Rain threat looms as Shreyas Iyer-led India face Afghanistan in Delhi

Srishti Bhattacharya, New Delhi

India and Afghanistan will begin their three-match T20I series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. Shreyas Iyer will lead India, with Tilak Varma as his deputy, while Ibrahim Zadran will captain Afghanistan. India have won all eight completed men’s T20Is between the two sides and will look to continue that dominant record.

Earlier this year, Afghanistan toured India for a full series, with India dominating the contest. India won the one-off Test by an innings and 300 runs in New Chandigarh before completing a 3-0 clean sweep in the ODIs. Afghanistan, however, now have a strong mix of experience and attacking players, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan expected to play important roles.

India also have plenty of firepower, with Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi capable of providing an aggressive start, while Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube add depth to the batting. Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy will lead the bowling attack.

Time and venue details

September 13, 7:00 PM IST. Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi.

Expected conditions

Temperatures are expected to be around 33°C, with a chance of rain. The pitch is expected to favour batting, while dew could make an impact later on in the day. The average first-innings score at the venue is around 200.

Possible XIs

India: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma (vc), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh.

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq.

Match-ups

Abhishek Sharma vs Fazalhaq Farooqi

Abhishek Sharma would be keen to make an impact from the start, while Fazalhaq Farooqi could trouble him with his swing and a different angle.

Ishan Kishan vs Rashid Khan

Ishan Kishan would look to take on Rashid Khan in the middle overs, but the Afghanistan spinner remains one of his side’s biggest wicket-taking threats.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz vs Arshdeep Singh

Rahmanullah Gurbaz would aim to make the most of the powerplay. On the other hand, Arshdeep Singh will be keen to keep the Afghanistan opener quiet early on in the innings.

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