Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi won the toss, and opts to bowl first against India in a crucial Group 2 game. India started the tournament as favourites but crashed to two losses in the Super 12 stage and now need to win their final three group games and depend on others to have any chance of making the semi-finals.
Afghanistan are equipped with arguably the best spin attack in the tournament with Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman sharing 13 wickets between them. Rashid, the fastest to 100 wickets in 53 T20 internationals, single-handedly tested Pakistan with his leg spin before an Asif Ali batting blitz blew the Afghans out. For India, Ashwin replaces Varun who has a bit of a niggle. Even in the loss to Pakistan they were so impressive, and a win tonight against one of the heavyweights will be a shot in the arm ahead of a potential shootoff with New Zealand.
