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India is all set to host Afghanistan for a three-match T20I series, which is also the Men in Blue's final T20I assignment before the all-important T20 World Cup 2024 in June later this year. The selection of star names like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma back into the T20 scheme of things has attracted mixed reactions.
Naturally, the two will be among the players whose performances this series will be closely looked at. Afghanistan, on the other hand, are without their star spinner Rashid Khan as the latter is still recovering from an injury.
However, the Afghans had a sensational 2023 World Cup and will certainly believe that they can be even more competitive in the shortest format. This will test India's skills as they look to find answers to several questions in their T20 setup.
On that note, let's take a look at the three player battles throughout the T20I series that could decide what the final result could be:
#3 Rahmanullah Gurbaz vs Ravi Bishnoi
Afghanistan's hopes of consistently posting big totals arguably lie on the shoulders of star opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz. His explosive game at the top could certainly catch India off-guard and the visitors will be hoping he finds top gear straight away.
As seen in the T20I series against Australia, the hosts used Ravi Bishnoi whenever they needed a wicket in the powerplay and the wrist-spinner delivered almost every single time. The No. 2 ranked T20I bowler will once again be India's trump card and this could make his match-up with Gurbaz pretty interesting.
#2 Virat Kohli vs Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Star Indian batter Virat Kohli's return to the T20I side is slightly delayed as he won't be available for the first T20I due to personal reasons. However, his match-up with Mujeeb Ur Rahman will be interesting for the rest of the games in the series.
Mujeeb has bowled 20 deliveries to Kohli in T20 cricket, conceding 22 runs and also dismissing the legendary batter once. It will be interesting to see the tempo at which Kohli bats in T20Is and whether Mujeeb can cause him any problems.
#1 Rohit Sharma vs Fazalhaq Farooqui
Rohit Sharma being named the captain of the Indian T20I team might hint at the probability of him leading the Men in Blue at the T20 World Cup 2024. He had a horrible T20 World Cup with the bat in Australia and many felt that was curtains for his T20I career.
However, an ultra-aggressive mode of batting in the 2023 World Cup has sprung a hope in the minds of many that Rohit can possibly replicate the same in T20Is. He took down Fazalhaq Farooqui when the two teams met in the 2023 World Cup.
But T20 is a different ball game and Rohit's weakness against left-arm pacers is well-documented. Farooqui can certainly cause problems for the Indian captain if he can swing the ball and get late movement early on.
