T20 WC: India on sticky wicket as Kohli-led team takes on Afghanistan

India take on Afghanistan on Wednesday (November 3) in Match 33 of the T20 World Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Touted as one of the favourites going into the tournament, India are in a tricky situation after two successive humiliating defeats against Pakistan (by 10 wickets) and New Zealand (by 8 wickets). They are teetering on the brink, depending on other teams to hand them a lifeline.

Also read: Exit doors loom large after India get beaten at its own game

Afghanistan, on the other hand, are in a much better position, with two wins from three matches. They kicked off their campaign with a 130-run win against Scotland followed by a loss against Pakistan. They bounced back to defeat Namibia by 62 runs.

In terms of head-to-head contests in T20 internationals, India and Afghanistan have met twice before, in 2010 as well as 2012 T20 World Cup, with the Men in Blue winning both contests.

Line-up:

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad(w), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi(c), Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Hamid Hassan

India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

What India must do:

India have to win all their remaining matches, starting with Afghanistan, and hope other results go in their favour to stand for making it to the final four. Afghanistan will more or less secure a semi-final spot if they beat India. A desperate India are likely to come out all guns blazing.