T20 WC, India vs Namibia: Virat Kohli elects to field
India are taking on Namibia in their last fixture of the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. The Men in Blue had crashed out of the ongoing tournament after New Zealand defeated Afghanistan on Sunday. Both India and Namibia will play for pride as the Kiwis and Pakistan are already through from Group 2. Besides, Virat Kohli has won the toss and elected to field.
Key details about the match
The Dubai International Stadium is hosting the match. It will begin at 7:30 PM IST. Chasing has been the preferred option on this venue. While the pitch is expected to assists the batters more, the spinners will also be in action. One can watch the match live on the Star Sports Network and stream the same on Disney+ Hotstar.
India failed to reach the semi-finals
India failed to make it to the last four after New Zealand beat Afghanistan in their final Super 12 match. India lost their first two encounters to Pakistan and NZ respectively. Although India won against Afghanistan and Scotland, they couldn't get through. This is the first time India haven't qualified for the the knockouts in an ICC event since the 2012 T20 World Cup.
A rare encounter!
India and Namibia will face each other for the first time in T20 Internationals. The two teams last clashed in the 2003 50-over World Cup. India handed Namibia a 181-run defeat back then. Sachin Tendulkar (152) and Sourav Ganguly (112*) had scored tons.
Here are the two teams
Namibia (Playing XI): Stephan Baard, Michael van Lingen, Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus (captain), Zane Green (wicket-keeper), David Wiese, Jan Frylinck, JJ Smit, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz. India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rahul Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
Rahul Chahar replaces Varun Chakravarthy
Indian have drafted leg-spinner Rahul Chahar in place of Varun Chakravarthy. The latter went wicket-less in his three outings in the T20 World Cup. His bowling figures read as - 0/33 against Pakistan, 0/23 against New Zealand, and 0/15 against Scotland. Chakravarthy's replacement Chahar is set to make his debut in the tournament. The leg-spinner owns seven wickets from five T20Is so far.
