India Keep A Close Eye On Afghanistan Vs New Zealand T20 World Cup Clash

T20 World Cup: Afghanistan will be at loggerheads with New Zealand in their final Group stage match. It will have the attention of the Indian fans as well as Afghanistan’s victory would give India a smooth road to the semi-final of the WC. 

The match starts at 3:30 pm IST from Shaikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

India’s net run-rate has become better than NZ and Afghanistan, thus a simple victory for India against Namibia will cement their place in the semi-final, given that Afghanistan wins their match against NZ. 

It is a match that has caught the attention of the entire cricketing world. Indian cricket fans on Twitter are changing their usernames to Afghani players’ names, such is the excitement for this game.

“We need him badly. He’s a big impact for the team.” ????#Afghanistan are sweating on the fitness of one of their key spinners ahead of their do-or-die clash with #NewZealand#T20WorldCuphttps://t.co/zNk7IRfLsP

— ICC (@ICC) November 7, 2021

India, who were down and out after two games is tingling on the last ray of hope. Afghanistan has a strong spin bowling attack that can surprise any opponent on any given day. They have Rashid Khan, who bowl at less than 5 RPO in T20s, which in itself is a phenomenal stat. 

It has to be noted that Afghanistan and New Zealand have never faced each other in any T20 international before. 

Squads:

New Zealand Squad: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson(c), Devon Conway(w), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Todd Astle, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Seifert, Mark Chapman

Afghanistan Squad: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad(w), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Gulbadin Naib, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi(c), Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Naveen-ul-Haq, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Fareed Ahmad, Usman Ghani