India host Afghanistan in the first of a three-match ODI series, to be played at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Saturday, June 13. The home team earlier defeated Afghanistan by an innings and 300 runs in the one-off Test played in Mullanpur. Now, Afghanistan will have to work hard to come back into the series. The Men in Blue, however, are much stronger, both on paper and in form, and will take no prisoners. India have been, nonetheless, rocked by the absence of Hardik Pandya, who has sustained a new injury and may not be available for selection.
As a result, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is reportedly being looked at as an alternative. India are also preparing for the upcoming ODI World Cup, to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in 2027, and Pandya’s fitness is crucial to their plans. Afghanistan, meanwhile, have Rashid Khan in their side, who can make a huge difference. The leg-spinner was ruled out of the one-off Test as he is carrying an injury, but he has reportedly recovered in time for the white-ball leg of this series.
Khan has played a lot of franchise cricket in India, especially at this venue, and hence, can help his teammates out. Khan will have a big role in going up against Rohit Sharma, who is one of the few experienced players in the Indian team. Sharma was supposed to be accompanied by Virat Kohli, but the latter has injured his hamstring. Apart from Khan, Afghanistan will also rely on the likes of Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai, both of whom are all-rounders.
Predicted Teams
IND: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh.
AFG: Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Sediqullah Atal, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Zia Ur Rahman, Fareed Ahmad.
Key Players
Rohit Sharma (IND): Opener Rohit Sharma, who is also India’s former captain, will be the one to watch out for in this match. The swashbuckling batter is known for his explosive stroke-making, and he is particularly sharp while playing the pull stroke. The only way to keep Sharma quiet is by not bowling short and wide to him early on in the innings. Once he gets settled, the Mumbai batter can rotate the strike well and build his innings.
Rashid Khan (AFG): Afghanistan sorely missed Rashid Khan in the one-off Test that they lost to India. But now that they have him back in the squad, things might get better. Khan is a proper bowling all-rounder who has the X-factor. He is one of the best leg-spinners in the world and is renowned for his wide range of variations. Even with the bat in hand, Khan can be a dangerous customer in the slog overs. He walks out to bat lower down the order and can comfortably hit the ball a long way to finish innings off.
Match Prediction
Skill-wise, India are the favourites. Moreover, they have a big boost in morale after having defeated Afghanistan in the Test earlier. They also appear to have covered all bases. Even though Pandya’s absence will hamper India’s chances in the middle-order, Reddy is expected to be a like-for-like replacement. With the ball, India have Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna, both of whom still need to prove their wares in ODIs. If there is a particular weakness of India’s that Afghanistan need to target, it is their bowling unit. But overall, India have the upper hand.
