Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz plays a shot during the second T20 cricket match between India and Afghanistan in Indore, on Jan. 14, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP
Rohit Sharma won the toss and India opted to field first in the second T20 against Afghanistan on Sunday.
India leads the three-match series 1-0, after winning the first encounter in Mohali by six wickets. Bengaluru will host the third T20 on Wednesday.
Star batter Virat Kohli returns for India after last playing a T20 in 2022. He had previously featured in India’s semi-final defeat to England in the T20 World Cup in Australia.
Left-handed opener Yashaswi Jaiswal is fit again after missing out in the previous game, and is back in the playing eleven. Batters Shubman Gill and Tilak Varma miss out.
The hosts have retained a five-man bowling attack, backed up by part-time medium pacer Shivam Dube.
Afghanistan, playing its first bilateral T20 series against India in India, has made one change. Batter Rahmat Shah misses out with 19-year-old left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad taking his place.
The pitch at the Holkar Stadium, along with the ground’s short boundaries, tends to be a batting paradise. Dew could be a factor in the second innings.
Line-ups:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran (captain), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman