Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar (X-BCCI)
India handed their maiden ODI caps to both Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar ahead of their encounter against Afghanistan, with the two youngsters marking a special milestone in their careers.Dube received his cap from KL Rahul, while India captain Shubman Gill presented Jurnor Brar with his first international cap before the start of play.
After previous concerns about weather conditions, conditions improved significantly and skies cleared in time for the match. The contest will be reduced to 25 overs per side, which promises an interesting encounter. Under modified playing conditions, each team can use a maximum of five players, with each player allowed to hand up to five overs. The hitting power will continue for the first five overs of each round.At the toss, Gill called correctly and elected to field first, citing the overcast conditions and the possibility of early help to the seamers.“We’ll bowl first. It’s a bit overcast, so the bowlers might get some help. It looks like a good surface, a good wicket to bat on, can be an early thing for the bowlers. It’s all about trying different combinations to see what suits us. We’re playing about 15-20 ODIs before the World Cup, so it’s about trying things out.”
We’re going with two starters. Gill said that Jaiswal, Prince and Kuldeep are absent.Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi admitted that his team would also have preferred to bowl first but remained confident of putting in a strong performance.“We wanted to bowl first, but it’s not in our hands; we have to start well with the bat. We have done very well in the recent past. This is the first time we are playing India at home, we are excited and hope to do well.”
“There are three seamers and three spinners, and one seamer is versatile,” Shahidi said.With two debutants in the Indian squad, the return of favorable weather conditions and a shortened 25-match lineup adding an extra layer of unpredictability, the stage is set for an exciting contest.the difference:Afghanistan (Playing XI): Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Siddiqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (W), Rashid Khan, Mohammad Saleem Safi, AM Ghazanfar, Ziaur Rahman Sharifi.India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (W), Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.