The Men in Blue are set to kick off their campaign in the Super 8 stages of the T20 World Cup 2024 against Afghanistan on Thursday, June 20, at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. India have won the toss and have opted to bat first.

As India prepares to launch its Super 8s campaign in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Barbados, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid couldn’t have asked for a better draw for the second stage of the competition. With Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Australia in their group, the path to the semifinals should be a straightforward one.

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Afghanistan, India’s opponents at Kensington Oval on Thursday, have a reputation for being giant killers, having defeated New Zealand, a team known for consistently strong performances in ICC competitions, in the first round. The Kiwis have not survived that assault.

Afghanistan vs India: Who said what at the toss?

Rohit Sharma: We are going to bat first. Looks alright at this moment, looks a good track. No grass on the pitch, I guess it will get slower. It’s better than New York. We have to adapt to the conditions quickly. We have been here for a couple of days, we have played a lot of cricket. It’s about understanding what we need to do in conditions like these. It’s an early start. Usually start in the evening elsewhere. We enjoy playing here. We have made one change, Kuldeep comes in for Siraj.

Rashid Khan: We would have liked to bat first. It’s more about how you play the game in T20s. Happy with our preparations and how things have gone. We are facing good teams, need to control our emotions and play our natural game. It does help getting used to the conditions. We have to play good cricket. We have one change, Karim Janat is not playing, Zazai comes in.

Playing XIs:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan(c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Pitch and weather report

Lovely weather conditions. 58m, 67m square boundaries, 70m down the ground. It looks a really good pitch with a few cracks on it. The ball should come on to the bat nicely and the bowlers need to bowl in the right areas. Batters should prosper on this wicket.