3 things Afghanistan need to do right to beat India in 2nd T20I

The second India vs Afghanistan T20I in Indore will mark Virat Kohli's return to the shortest format in Indian colors. This will also be India's penultimate match before the T20 World Cup kicks off in the USA and the West Indies in June.

In the first match, Afghanistan did a few things right but still fell well short. They now need to pick up pace if they wish to pose a challenge to the hosts. There was a fifty-run opening partnership, but the batting was very cautious and allowed Rohit Sharma to control the pace of the game.

The temperatures in Indore will be much kinder to the sides and the flat surface and short boundaries will make for a cracking contest.

Here we take a look at three things Afghanistan need to do right to beat India in the second T20I:

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#3 Better fielding effort

Better fielding needed

In the first T20I, Afghanistan were quite sloppy in the field and this cost them more than 10 runs. They have to be better in the field, especially with their ground fielding. Indore has short boundaries and the fielders have to be sharp while manning the boundary ropes.

There were a few good moments for the Afghans as well, but they need to be far more consistent if they want to apply pressure on the Indian batting in the middle overs.

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#2 Far more aggression in the powerplay

Rahmanullah Gurbaz will have to be more aggressive

In the first T20I, on a favorable batting pitch with limited initial movement and little spin, Afghanistan were not very assertive during the powerplay. The first six overs yielded only 33 runs without the loss of a wicket, a noteworthy statistic that played a crucial role in the result of the match.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran struggled to find their rhythm, possibly attempting to push too aggressively on a pitch conducive to natural strokeplay. Nevertheless, their partnership managed to establish a 50-run foundation, providing a platform for the rest of the team to build upon.

This is one area where they need to step up and get off the blocks quickly if they have to challenge India on a ground where the par score is on the higher side.

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#1 Target the Indian spinners

Axar was too good in the first match

Axar Patel was excellent in the first match and in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja, he ended up with figures of 4-0-23-2.

Kuldeep Yadav, India's first-choice spinner, was rested, with the team management giving Washington Sundar a go. The off-spinner bowled at different stages of the innings and was quite good in all these phases.

Apart from these two spinners, Rohit also tried out Shivam Dube. This is where Afghanistan need to be more expansive, especially in Indore, where they cannot allow the Indian spinners to keep bowling at one spot.

If Rohit does give the ball to Dube once again, Afghanistan will have to target his medium-pace bowling.