India’s depth takes centrestage as Afghanistan fight to avoid whitewash
Big picture: India gunning for 3-0
India has aced the test of their depth in the absence of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya, wrapping up the three-match ODI series with one game to go in Chennai on June 20. Ishan Kishan has seamlessly slotted back into the ODI side, cracking 125 off 79 balls amid Lucknow’s inhospitable heat on Wednesday.
Form guide
India: WWLLW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
Afghanistan: LLWWW
India’s captain wants to bat deeper into the innings and is hungry for more runs. The hosts are poised to sweep Afghanistan 3-0 unless Gurbaz or Rashid Khan intervene and produce something special.
Team news: Reddy likely to return to action
After missing the Lucknow ODI with a sore thigh, seam-bowling allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy bowled without apparent discomfort at the Chepauk nets on Friday and could return to action in the third ODI on Saturday.
In the spotlight: Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rashid Khan
Yashasvi Jaiswal will be a shoo-in at the top for most other white-ball international teams in the world. But India are not most other teams. They are so stacked with top-order options that they had to leave Jaiswal on the sidelines after the opener had just hit an unbeaten 116 against a South Africa attack that included Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi and Keshav Maharaj in Vizag last December.
Pitch and conditions
Friday’s fixture is set to be played on pitch no. 4, a red-soil surface, which generally offers substantial bounce. There were some showers in Chennai two days out of the game, but the weather was clear on the eve of the match.
Stats and Trivia
- Gurnoor Brar is only the second Indian bowler after Piyush Chawla to take three or more wickets in their first two men’s ODIs.
- Kishan’s ODI strike rate of 107.69 after 29 games is the third highest for India behind Yusuf Pathan (113.60) and Hardik (110.89).
- Afghanistan have faced India six times in ODI cricket, with their best result being a tie in Dubai at the 2018 Asia Cup.
