New Delhi [India], September 15 : India won the toss and opted to bowl first against Afghanistan in the second T20I of the three-match series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.
India enter the second match after securing an easy seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in the first T20I on Sunday.
After winning the toss, Shreyas Iyer said India opted to bowl first, believing the Arun Jaitley Stadium wicket could offer some early assistance to the bowlers. He also admitted India could have won more convincingly in the previous match, while confirming that Ravi Bishnoi replaced the injured Varun Chakravarthy.
“We are going to bowl first. You have a fair idea how the wicket plays, and it gives the bowlers an idea, a little bit of an advantage. It wasn't comprehensive because we could have won by a huge margin. As a bowling unit, we could have picked wickets in the middle. Varun is injured, and Ravi Bishnoi comes in,” Iyer said at the toss presentation.
Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran said they would have preferred to bowl first as well and are aiming to play positive cricket. He acknowledged their slow start in the previous game but said the team recovered well and will look to improve this time.
“We would have bowled first as well. We want to play positive cricket; we didn't get a good start that day, but we covered in the middle. We will try to do better tonight. We are playing the same playing 11,” he said.
In the first T20I, India opted to field first, with Afghanistan managing 156/8 courtesy of a fighting 64* from Azmatullah Omarzai. Arshdeep Singh (3/19) was sensational with the ball. During the chase, Abhishek (82 in 32 balls, with seven fours and seven sixes) and Ishan Kishan (42 in 33 balls, with five fours and a six) killed the chase with an entertaining 121-run stand for the second wicket. The chase was completed in 13.4 overs.
India vs Afghanistan 2nd T20I playing 11s:
India: Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravi Bishnoi
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran(c), Sediqullah Atal, Gulbadin Naib, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi.