Daijiworld Media Network

Dhaka, Mar 5: India and Afghanistan have squared off before twice in T20 cricket with the former coming up trumps on both ocassions. But, Afghanistan's bowling, brimming with variety will test the Indian batting department that is thin on experience. India's bowling has been marginally good as Virat Kohli has reiterated. Bhuvi and Ashwin would be far better off if they have that cushion of a healthy total, if not a formidable one.

Afridi's madcap blitz, which stamped Pakistan's ticket to the final alongside Sri Lanka has effectively reduced the last two league fixtures of the Asia Cup as inconsequential ones. The back doors have been closed firmly on India and Afghanistan. The hosts are out of contention as well. However, these sides will be itching to end the tournament on a high and with it snatch some momentum into the forthcoming World T20 Championship.

India have won the toss and have opted to field.

Nabi: 'We will try our best to put a big total on the board. Hamza is not playing, Rahmat Shah is in. We play against Test nations in the Asia Cup. It is a good experience. We will try to perform well and end well.'

Kohli: 'We are going to have a bowl first. The pitch looks dry. The ball won't come on to the bat easily. We are professional cricketers. Everyone is aware of that. We are going to put in 100 percent. We are playing the same side. The ones who have not contribued have to step up. We have the talent, we are in a transition phase as far as the ODIs are concerned. People will have to be a bit patient with us'

Teams:

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Shahzad(w), Noor Ali Zadran, Asghar Stanikzai, Nawroz Mangal, Samiullah Shenwari, Mohammad Nabi(c), Najibullah Zadran, Mirwais Ashraf, Rahmat Shah, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami

Pitch report: 'It is a flat, well-rolled wicket. Yesterday, there was runs galore. This seems a little darker to me. The endeavor is to get runs on the board and let the ball come onto the bat. In evening, the dew factor may come into play. The fast bowlers are being carted around. The spinners will have to do the job. The team that wins the toss should bat first.' reckons Arul Lal

This dead rubber also presents India the ideal opportunity to give Ishwar Pandey and Che Pujara a look in. Toss and team compositions heading your way shortly. Do stay with us.

Match Preview

With Sri Lanka and Pakistan registering three wins apiece, India are out of the tournament and the demoralised side will be looking sign off their disastrous Asia Cup campaign on a positive note when they take on the spirited Afghanistan team in their last round-robin league match.

India

Hit hard by successive defeats against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, India will be eyeing a big win against Afghanistan to boost their sagging morale in what has been a depressing campaign for the record five-time champions. The Indians have looked vulnerable without their regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni as that winning edge has been missing from the side. Kohli's aggressive captaincy has given some spark to the Indian side but unfortunately it has not translated into wins, barring their victory against Bangladesh in their first match.

Leading from the front, Kohli slammed 136 to help India recover from a jittery start and set up an easy six wicket win against the hosts. Since then, Kohli has not been able to put up big runs and India have lost on both occasions. Specialist batsmen such as Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Ambati Rayudu have hit half-centuries, but their failure to make it big has proved to be the difference as India were short of the par score in their matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

The bowlers, especially the spinners, have been impressive in this tournament and it was due to their good showing that India were able to take the game into the last over in both the matches that they lost. Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin have been on the mark while Amit Mishra, playing his first international match after four months, almost brought about Pakistan's downfall by taking 2/28 from his 10 overs before Shahid Afridi smashed two sixes off Ashwin to clinch a one-wicket thriller. India will be hoping that the spinners continue their good work while they will be expecting a better showing from the seamers, who have been mediocre so far.

Afghanistan

Bubbling with enthusiasm, Afghanistan announced their arrival at the big stage when they downed Bangladesh by 32 runs for their maiden victory against a Test-playing nation. Even in their loss to Pakistan, they showed a lot of promise with their bowling while they also did fairly well with the ball against Sri Lanka. However, it was their inexperienced batting that led to the losses against the Asian giants. Afghanistan have expressed their desire to secure one more victory against a high-profile nation, and a win against India will be a big boost to the nation and will also help them leapfrog Ireland in the ODI rankings.

Afghanistan have been a revelation in this tournament, putting up an impressive show especially with their bowling. They have a potent pace attack in the Zadran duo of Shapoor and Dawlat and the left-right combination brings in the variety to the fast bowling line-up. Afghanistan also have plenty of options in the spin department with the presence of Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shenwari and Hamza Hotak.

It is the batting that has been Afghanistan's main worry. While they have a bunch of talented batters, they have not been able to get substantial contributions from them, barring Asghar Stanikzai and Samiullah Shenwari's superb performance against Bangladesh. The likes of Noor Ali Zadran and Nawroz Mangal got off to promising starts in a couple of games but have not been able to make it big. Afghanistan will be hoping that the top order comes to the party in their game against India as they look to pull off another upset.

Quotes

Kohli has been learning a lot from Dhoni. He has been very proactive and did a fantastic job against Pakistan. Although we have been losing, we are putting in a lot of effort': Ambati Rayudu.