India Team Preview
Kedar Jadhav is in a race against time to be fit for the match against Afghanistan after suffering a groin injury during his match against New Zealand. If he’s ruled out then KL Rahul will come in. Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni would open the batting while Shikhar Dhawan should come in at number three. Virat Kohli’s usual position is number four but due to his wrist injury, he may not be risked. This could push Ajinkya Rahane to number four with Rishabh Pant behind him. Jasprit Bumrah will get one of the two remaining slots as his leg-spin is an invaluable asset on sluggish pitches like these where the ball just keeps low. Umesh Yadav will provide backup as Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been left out despite being fully fit. Hardik Pandya was brought into the side for allrounder cover but failed to make any impact with bat or ball when given a chance in the game against Australia. However, he could still provide value if either Ravindra Jadeja or Manish Pandey goes off early. With Mohammed Nabi coming into form in this tournament and Rashid Khan emerging as one of world cricket’s most exciting prospects, Afghanistan has plenty of quality spinners which makes it difficult to predict their lineup too confidently
Afghanistan Team Preview
Afghanistan has had a rollercoaster of a journey in its Asia Cup campaign so far. They looked dead and buried after a 2-wicket loss to the defending champions Pakistan but with some plucky performances and all-around maturity, they found themselves on the verge of qualification for the semi-finals. However, another setback came in the form of a 3-wicket loss to Hong Kong in their last group game and despite knocking off Bangladesh who were also placed below them, they were knocked out at fourth place as only the three group winners made it through.
Afghanistan is currently ranked 8th in ODIs and holds no major tournament titles to date. Their biggest win was against Ireland in 2015 where they won by 6 wickets and beat Zimbabwe by 10 runs in 2018. But on the other hand, their recent record has been good which includes wins against Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Scotland, and England among others. Afghanistan’s players include 18-year-old Rashid Khan (captain), Mohammad Nabi (vice-captain), Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, and Usman Ghani among others. For this match against India – one that will surely give them nightmares from past tours – a bowling first approach is expected from captain Rashid Khan with an aggressive intent on the field led by Mohammad Nabi who is also one of their most experienced batsmen at number 4 position.
Pitch Report
An international cricket tournament and one of the premier sporting events in Asia, the Asia Cup is played every two years. The best teams from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have always competed for supremacy in a format that accommodates both competitive matches and festival matches such as a T20 match in 2016. When Bangladesh was to host the event again this year, UAE stepped in to take up hosting responsibilities. This year also marked the first time when Afghanistan qualified for an ICC major event by taking on West Indies for a berth at next month’s World Twenty20 Championship Qualifier 2019. The four teams who made it through would go on to face each other in the Super 4s stage at home and away fixtures with two games per team. Bangladesh has been pitted against India while defending champions Pakistan are set to clash with their fierce rivals, the Afghans. It promises to be an intense contest as all four teams are evenly matched and hungry for victory in what promises to be a thrilling contest.
Probable XI (From both sides)
India is the No.1 side in the world and they will start as favorites for this game against a much less experienced opponent. They will be taking on a team who just qualified and are set to play their first-ever Asia Cup match. Even though India is the stronger team on paper and has a better chance of winning on the day, there is still a chance for Afghanistan to prevail but that would require an extraordinary performance from them. On a cricket betting tips basis, I will be picking India to win which can be found at odds of 1/7 with 888Sport Betting Tips or even better odds of 1/5 with Ladbrokes Sports Betting Tips. There are also plenty of other cricket betting tips opportunities you could take advantage of too. For example, you could look at what sort of form the batsmen have been in recently by looking at the runs scored per over (RPO) stat which is available for all players. If it’s higher than 4 then it’s worth considering backing them up with some runs bet on a cricket betting tips basis. For example, Virat Kohli has been averaging 5+ RPO while Rohit Sharma has averaged 3+ RPO so if they were batting together then it might be worth considering backing both players up together.
Predictions and Match Winner
The match will be a hard-fought one with each team playing to the level they are capable of. The advantage would seem to go to the Indian team but the Afghans know that they cannot sit back and play the long game – they will have to execute their game plan right away and take control of the match early on. With so much at stake it would not be surprising if this one is a draw – either way, it will go down in history as a memorable match. It’s difficult to say which team has an edge going into the clash.
India’s batting lineup is just too good and their bowling attack contains some of the best bowlers in world cricket.
But while they’re among Asia’s best teams, Afghanistan has always been tipped as a dark horse who could come out on top against all odds. In general terms then I would say that India should win but Afghanistan might just make life difficult for them because they are never short of courage or skill.
