World Cup, India vs Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi elects to bat
India and Afghanistan are set to clash in match number nine of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Despite having a shaky start, India claimed a six-wicket win against Australia in their opener. On the other hand, the Afghans were beaten by Bangladesh in Dharamsala. Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi has won the toss and elected to bat.
Shardul Thakur replaces R Ashwin in Indian XI
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicket-keeper), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, and Fazalhaq Farooqi. India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj.
Venue, pitch report, conditions, and streaming details
As mentioned, the iconic Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delh is hosting the match. While the pitches here usually have low bounce, the average ODI first-innings score here is 230. According to reports, there is no chance of rain on Wednesday. Fans can watch the match live on Star Sports Network and live streaming will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar app.
Another high-scoring game on the cards?
South Africa just posted the highest team total in ICC World Cup history versus Sri Lanka here in the opening clash here. One expects to see a high-scoring match. Notably, teams batting first have won five of the last six ODIs here dating back to 2013. In 27 ODIs, 13 times teams have won batting first. Teams chasing have won 13 times (NR: 1).
5.05 is the average run rate of teams batting first
As per ESPNcricinfo, teams batting first here own an average run rate of 5.05. Teams chasing have an average run rate of 4.90. The overall batting average while chasing is 30.38. The average while batting first is 31.35.
