India vs Afghanistan T20 World Cup 2021: Toss result and playing XIs, today's match umpires list and pitch report

India will take on Afghanistan in match number 33 of the T20 World Cup 2021 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The game will be significant for the Indians as they would have to win the match by a massive margin to stay in the hunt for the semi-final race.

After being walloped by Pakistan by 10 wickets, India went down to New Zealand as well by eight wickets. Right from start to finish, the Men in Blue never looked in any kind of rhythm.

Their batting never came to terms with a tough surface and the bowling was insipid as well. Question marks were also raised about their body language, which wasn’t good as per many experts.

After a close loss to Pakistan, Afghanistan came up with a highly impressive performance to get the better of Namibia in their last match.

Both with bat and ball, Afghanistan were dominant over their opponents. With India under pressure, Afghanistan have a great chance to pull off an upset.

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IND vs AFG - Today's match playing 11s

IND playing 11: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

AFG playing 11: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (w), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Naveen-ul-Haq, Hamid Hassan

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IND vs AFG - Today's match opening batters list

The opening combination has been a matter of debate for India. They are starting their batting with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.

The in-form duo of Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad will open for Afghanistan.

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IND vs AFG - Today's match pitch report

Pakistan showed against Namibia that runs can be scored batting first if the early overs are seen off. The team taking first strike will have to put up a good score as dew is likely to play a role in the second half.

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IND vs AFG - Today's T20 World Cup match umpires

On-field Umpires: Paul Reiffel, Richard Kettleborough

Third Umpire: Aleem Dar

Match Referee: David Boon

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IND vs AFG T20 World Cup toss result for today's match

Afghanistan have won the toss and opted to field first. Off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman is unavailable for the team for the second game in a row.

Speaking after winning the toss, Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi said:

"Will bowl first. Last game there was a lot of dew in the second half. We always prepare for both, but today we'll bowl first because of dew. We'll play normal cricket and go and enjoy."

Indian captain Virat Kohli admitted he would have bowled first as well. In a significant move, India have made two changes to their team.

A fit Suryakumar Yadav returns for Ishan Kishan while Ravichandran Ashwin replaces Varun Chakravarthy, who has a bit of a niggle.