IND vs AFG: The big game is scheduled to take place on Thursday in Group 1 of the Super 8 in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. It will be match no. 43, which will be played between India and Afghanistan at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. The Indian team are coming into this match without losing a match. On the other hand, Afghanistan have been superb in this tournament.
It looks like an easy game for India, but Afghanistan will make sure that they give India a tough time. Notably, this will be the first match for India in West Indies, as they played their group matches in the USA. Hence, the conditions will be different, and there will be a lot of things that India need to do well here to win. There are some areas where India still lack and we think that the IND vs AFG clash is ideal for them to solve these issues.
IND vs AFG: 3 Problems India need to resolve during the Super 8 game against Afghanistan in Antigua
1. The Opening Pair
Team India tried the opening pair of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the group stage, but it didn’t work. Virat Kohli scored five runs in three innings, while Rohit scored fifty against Ireland but followed it up with two low scores. So Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has already confirmed that they might look to do the experiment, but India need a settled opening pair. If they will stick with Virat and Rohit, these two need to make sure that they score runs in the IND vs AFG because the coming matches will be very important.
2. The Middle Order Woes
Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube scored runs against the USA to take India to victory. But before that, the Indian middle order suffered badly, which can be a big issue for the team going ahead. However, the batting conditions will be better in West Indies, and India will hope that SKY, Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja can score some runs. Because they can’t rely on the top order, and we have seen many times when the top order fails, the middle order also fails under pressure.
3. Spinners’ form
The conditions in the USA were helpful for the pacers, which is why India went with a four-pacer attack. But in West Indies, India need 2–3 spinners. If they go with Jadeja and Axar, then they also need someone like Kuldeep Yadav. Likely, we will see this attack in the IND vs AFG clash. But the biggest question is: are the Indian spinners redy? Jadeja has only bowled 3-4 overs in three games, Axar Patel has bowled six overs, and Kuldeep hasn’t played yet. But India will need them in the coming games. So India need to give them gametime in the coming match so that they can get used to the match conditions ahead of the coming games.
Also Read: Ex-AFG Coach fires warning to Team India ahead of IND vs AFG T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 Clash
