Team India has endured excruciating defeats in their first two Super 4 matches in the ongoing Asia Cup tournament. The team that was being tipped as potential champions is now out of the final race after Pakistan’s one-wicket win over Afghanistan on Wednesday. The Rohit Sharma-led side will be looking to go all out against Afghanistan in their final encounter of the Super 4 stage to return home with a morale-boosring performance. The match, which will take place on Thursday, September 8, will be held at the Dubai International Stadium.
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Dubai’s curse on sides batting first continued as India lost their consecutive second fixture with the chasing sides clinching the target with just a ball to spare. The Men in Blue were mathematically not out of the competition before the Wednesday’s Super four match but with Pakistan winning in the last over, their hopes have ended.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan will also be desperate for a win after a heartbreaking defeat to Pakistan. Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman will be crucial to tackle a stacked Indian batting unit. Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz have been excellent with the bat and will be looking to punish a depleted Indian bowling attack on Thursday.
Weather Report
India will clash against Afghanistan at the Dubai International Stadium on September 8, Thursday. The temperature will drop down to somewhere around 30 degrees Celsius at night in Dubai. There is no rainfall predicted throughout the course of the match. Humidity will be around 39 percent and the wind speed is expected to be around 17km/h.
Pitch Report
India’s last two encounters at the Dubai Stadium have been high-scoring with the pitches aiding to the batters. The pace and bounce have been consistent and the batters have got value for their shots. There isn’t much turn on-offer for the spinners but on the tacky surface, it is hard to score against them. The matches in the tournament itself have proved that the sides chasing have had a significant advantage in Dubai, therefore the captain who wins the toss may choose to field first.
India (IND) vs Afghanistan (AFG) Possible XIs
India Predicted Line-up: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Afghanistan Predicted Line-up: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanaullh Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (C), Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Shinwari, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb, Fazallhaq Farooqi
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