India Eye Series Win As Bishnoi Replaces Chakaravarthy Against Afghanistan

India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and decided to field first against Afghanistan in the second T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The hosts made one alteration to their line-up, with Ravi Bishnoi replacing Varun Chakaravarthy, who missed the match after suffering a side strain. Afghanistan, meanwhile, entered the contest with an unchanged team.

India can clinch the three-match series with another win, while Afghanistan need a major improvement following their heavy loss in the opening encounter.

Afghanistan struggled to build momentum with the bat in the first T20I as India’s bowlers struck regularly during the early stages.

Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi then steadied the innings through an 83-run partnership, taking their side to 156.

India’s chase, however, quickly moved beyond Afghanistan’s control. Abhishek Sharma produced an explosive 82 from only 32 balls to take India towards the target at a rapid pace.

Chakaravarthy’s side strain has ruled him out for the remainder of the series, forcing India to turn to Bishnoi.

The Indian attack will therefore rely on its established options to maintain pressure throughout the innings.

After winning the toss, Iyer said, “We are going to bowl first. You have a fair idea of how the wicket plays, and it gives the bowlers an idea, a little bit of an advantage. It wasn’t comprehensive because we could have won by a huge margin. As a bowling unit, we could have picked wickets in the middle. Varun is injured, and Ravi Bishnoi comes in.”

Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran said his team had preferred to bowl first and would aim to produce a stronger performance.

Playing XIs

India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravi Bishnoi.

Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi.

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