ODI World Cup 2023: India vs Afghanistan; Head-to-head record, pitch report, form guide and more

Rohit Sharma's Indian squad is set to maintain their victorious streak when they face Afghanistan in Match 9 of the ICC World Cup 2023 at Delhi. Following a remarkable opening victory against Australia, India is prepared to take on Afghanistan, led by Rashid Khan, at the renowned Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Transitioning from the slow, spinning pitch of Chepauk, India anticipates a high-scoring game on the Feroz Shah Kotla track. The ground has already witnessed over 700 runs in a recent ODI World Cup match between South Africa and Sri Lanka. Delhi's own Virat Kohli, a star batter, aims to shine in the ICC event and is on the cusp of a record-breaking campaign.

Virat Kohli played a stellar knock to help India recover from a challenging start against Australia, breaking two of Sachin Tendulkar's major records in his gritty 85-run innings. Kohli received crucial support from wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul, who remained unbeaten at 97, securing a comfortable six-wicket win over Australia in Chennai. However, India will be without opener Shubman Gill, who is recovering from an illness.

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Head-to-Head Stats:

India Wins: 2
Afghanistan Wins: 0

Form Guide (Last 5 ODIs):

India: W L W W W
Afghanistan: L L L L L

Key Facts:

Ravindra Jadeja has been the top wicket-taker in ODIs against Afghanistan and in Delhi.
In their previous encounter at the 2019 World Cup, India emerged victorious.
Mohammed Shami secured a memorable hat-trick in the 2019 World Cup against Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the fastest batter from his nation to reach 1000 ODI runs, accomplishing this milestone in just 27 innings.

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill, Shardul Thakur.

Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq.

Pitch Report: 

The recently resurfaced pitch in Delhi boasts a noticeable covering of grass, bearing a striking resemblance to the one where a staggering 754 runs were scored, featuring the fastest century in World Cup history and the highest total in men's ODI World Cup history. In the last six ODIs played here since 2013, teams that batted first have emerged victorious in five of those encounters. However, chasing a par score should not pose an excessively challenging task.

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