India vs Afghanistan Highlights, T20 World Cup 2021: India crush Afghanistan by 66 runs to keep semis hopes alive

Afghanistan are equipped with arguably the best spin attack in the tournament with Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman sharing 13 wickets between them. Rashid, the fastest to 100 wickets in 53 T20 internationals, single-handedly tested Pakistan with his leg spin before an Asif Ali batting blitz blew the Afghans out. Mujeeb, a mystery spinner who has nearly all the variations, returned his T20 best figures of 5-20 in his team's 130-run rout of Scotland. India are historically good players of spin although Kohli and Sharma lost their wickets to New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi.

Totals of 151 (v Pakistan) and 110 (v New Zealand) are not usually associated with a team having world class batsmen including Kohli and Rohit Sharma. But India's batting has been found wanting against the quality pace attacks of Pakistan and New Zealand on a Dubai pitch that was one of the venues of the recent Indian Premier League. In a procession against a Trent Boult-inspired Kiwi bowling line-up, KL Rahul (18), Ishan Kishan (4), Sharma (14) and Kohli (9) returned to the dug out with the score on 48.

The event technical committee of the ICC T20 World Cup on Tuesday approved Sharafudin Ashraf as a replacement for Asghar Afghan in the Afghanistan squad ahead of their match against India. All-rounder Sharafudin, who has played 17 ODIs and nine T20Is, was approved as a replacement following Asghar's retirement. A bowling all-rounder, Ashraf has claimed five wickets in his T20I career so far with figures of 3/27 on his debut in the format back in 2015 against the Netherlands. He last featured for the Afghanistan T20I side in March, against Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi.

Against Afghanistan, the middle-overs, during which the peerless Rashid Khan operates, will be crucial. Along with Gulbadin Naib, who bowls wicket-to-wicket steady medium pace with an occasional 'heavy ball', India might want to play those overs with caution. They would look to attack Afghan seamers primarily in their bid to ramp up the scoring. Kohli would like to chase under lights with dew setting in but if he bats first, a middling score of 145 to 155 could possibly spell trouble in case Shahzad starts finding a few off the middle of his bat. This will be one match where if India wins, they won't get any credit but if they lose, all hell will break loose.

Afghanistan's new ball bowlers -- the experienced Hamid Hasan and young Naveen ul Haq -- are certainly good but on their day, KL Rahul and Rohit could just send them on a leather-hunt. After two bad games, that's exactly what they would want at a new venue (Abu Dhabi). If Suryakumar Yadav, who is suffering from back spasms, is fit and available, one could possibly find both him and Ishan Kishan playing in the middle-order as the team is hardly getting any tangible benefit from Hardik Pandya's presence. A contribution of 31 runs in two games from 35 balls is certainly not something that the Indian team expects from its premier finisher.

If Kohli once again chooses to keep the Tamil Nadu tweaker out of the mix, the "outside noises", which the skipper often describes as "irrelevant", along with "inside voices", which he can't ignore, will grow stronger that reasons are non-cricketing. In terms of cricketing logic, ignoring him would be as difficult as keeping Rohit Sharma away from the opening position, where he actually belongs.

In terms of talent and skills, none of the spinners in this Indian set-up can come close to Ashwin. The only thing that went against him was his lack of consistency which led to his ouster four years back. But desperate times call for desperate measures and against Afghanistan, which is not used to facing a spinner of Ashwin's class, his presence might just prove to be beneficial. The opening duo of burly left-hander Hazratullah Zazai and the rotund and flamboyant Mohammed Shahzad, who lacks in footwork, might find it difficult to deal with Ashwin's tricks.

For Kohli, in probably his last three matches as T20 captain of India, one would expect some prudent team selections and it starts with the question of repeatedly ignoring a player of Ashwin's calibre. It is unheard of in world cricket that one of the most decorated players among the current generation has been transformed into a glorified traveller since he last wore the national shirt in June. Ashwin's entry into the white-ball team after four years was indeed left-field selection and if sources are to be believed, it never had the Indian skipper's approval. However, Kohli's decision to not even consider him as an option is something that many in Indian cricket feel, "borders on stubbornness" after Varun Chakravarthy's inability to deliver under pressure proved what experience actually means.

Afghanistan have expectedly won their two games against Scotland and Namibia and were in the contest against Pakistan for the better part before Asif Ali took the game away with four sixes in one over. In this backdrop, Mohammed Nabi and Rashid Khan would like to use all their might and T20 freelancing experience to add insult to the Indian injury and prolong the nightmare that started on October 24.

Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's inexplicable absence from the playing XI is in focus as India skipper Virat Kohli tries to figure out the combination that can bring his team's floundering campaign back on track when it takes on a feisty Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup tonight. India's run has been derailed after two crushing defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand and the performance that they have put in is not worthy of a semi-final spot even though mathematics keeps their hopes alive.