IND vs AFG Live: India captain Shreyas Iyer opts to field vs Afghanistan

India vs Afghanistan, 2nd T20I: Iyer Wins Toss, Sets Field — But Bowling Depth Question Lingers 🏏

Good evening, cricket family! 💃

India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss Tuesday and chose to field first against Afghanistan in tonight's 2nd T20I, with the aim of sealing this 3-match series before the team shifts focus to the Asian Games later this week.

Setting the Scene: India came into this game on the back of a dominant 7-wk win in the opener Sunday. Arshdeep Singh was the star with the ball (3/19), while Abhishek Sharma lit it up with the bat — a fiery 82 off just 32 balls — sending India home in a brisk 13.4 overs. Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy also made clean returns from injury.

The One Concern: Despite the winning start, there's a nagging question mark over India's 5th bwl option. With Hardik Pandya still injured, Iyer had no clean solution. In game 1, batting ARs Shivam Dube and Nitish Kumar Reddy struggled — Reddy leaked 30 in his 2 overs, Dube gave away 21 in the final over, and Abhishek chipped in a run-a-over. Those three combined for a pricey 59 runs in just 4 overs.

India's specialist bowlers — Arshdeep, Bumrah, Axar Patel, and Varun — did the heavy lifting, but Iyer will want a more settled bowling plan before the Asian Games campaign kicks off.

Squad on the Pitch:

- India: Shreyas Iyer (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi.

- Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (c), Darwish Rasooli, Noor ul Rahman, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Nangeliya Kharote, Abdollah Ahmedzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen ul Haq, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmed.

Let's see if Iyer can solve the bowling puzzle tonight! What's your playing XI guess, everyone? 🤔

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Source: Times of India