CWC 2023: Afghanistan win toss and elect to bat first against India

Afghanistan won the toss against India in the ninth ODI match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, and have elected to bat first.

This is India’s second match in the World Cups series, with the teams ready to face-off on the pitch of the Arun Jaitley International Stadium in Delhi, India at 02:00 p.m. today (11 Oct.).

The in-form Indians will miss the services of young cricket prodigy Shubman Gill, who has not travelled with the team to Delhi due to a severe bout of dengue fever.

India opened the tournament with an emphatic win over five-time champions Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The game did not always look in India’s favour, with the top order getting out early, but the stellar innings of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli helped the team to a memorable six-wicket win from a score of 2/3.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, had a tough start to the ODI World Cup with a six-wicket defeat to Bangladesh in their first encounter at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala.

India will be looking to continue their winning ways and consolidate their place at the top of the points table ahead of their marquee clash with Pakistan. 

Afghanistan, however, will be looking to make a statement by beating the two-time world champions in their capital city.

Afghanistan Playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w/k), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w/k), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj