IND vs AFG Preview ICC CWC 2019: Will Pant find place in India playing 11?

With Shikhar Dhawan out and Bhuvneshwar injured, Rishabh Pant and Mohammad Shami may be given chance to play. Vijay Shankar may be rested after he was hit on toe during practice session

Virat Kohli-led India cricket team will look to consolidate its strong position in the ICC World Cup 2019 as they face minnows Afghanistan cricket team in a lopsided contest at the Hampshire Bowl on Saturday. India are at the fourth spot in ICC World CUP 2019 Points Table with 7 points in 4 matches while Afghanistan are languishing at the bottom without any victory in their kitty.

CHECK MATCH 28 (IND vs AFG) LIVE SCORE, TOSS UPDATES and MATCH COMMENTARY

India received a jolt ahead of the match as in-form opener Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the World Cup 2019 after sustaining injury on his thumb in the match against Australia where he smashed a brilliant century. Rishabh Pant, who was brought as cover for Dhawan, will replace him in the squad. Rishabh Pant may also be given a shot at batting up the order against Afghanistan. Adding to India's woes, there was an injury scare, too, as all-rounder Vijay Shankar was hit on toe by Jasprit Bumrah's yorker during practice session. However, to Kohli's relief, he did not sustain any serious injury. Rishabh Pant could be in India playing 11 so as to make him acccustomed to the conditions as India will be facing West Indies and England post this clash.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, have a brittle batting line-up that gets wrapped up easily if there is early collapse. The team was wrapped up for 125 runs against South Africa but they fought well against England while chasing 398-run target --playing their quota of 50 overs for the first time in the tournament and scoring 247/8 runs. Gubadin's team may draw some confidence from their previous match but facing India would be a tough challenge, especially after they thrashed Pakistan at the Old Trafford.

Afghanistan's star player, Rashid Khan, will look to bounce back after he was attacked by England batsman, conceding 110 runs in 9 overs, the most expensive for a bowler in World Cups so far. 

Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Rahmat Shah and skipper Gulbadin Naib will have to yet again shoulder responsibility for the batting. 

India will be high on confidence after the match against Pakistan as the entire batting and bowling unit worked hand-in-hand adn not to forget Roht Sharma's brilliant 140 runs off 113 balls and Virat Kohli's 77 runs that set the stage for a massive total of 336 runs. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal would be handy for Kohli but the main bowling attack will depend on Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami, who is likely to play.

India vs Afghainstan playing 11 prediction

India playing 11: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Vijay Shankar/ Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (WK), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Mohammad Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah.

Afghanistan playing 11: Hamid Hassan, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Noor Ali Zadran, Aftab Alam/ Mujeeb ur Rahman, Gulbadin Naib (c), Hashmatullah Shahidi/ Najibullah Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Rashid Khan, Ikram Ali Khil (wk), Hazratullah Zazai

ICC World Cup 2019, Match 28: India vs Afghanistan Live streaming details

Date and Day: June 22, 2019, Saturday.

Place: Hampshire Bowl, Southampton

Time: 3:00 pm IST, 13:30 am local time

The World Cup 2019 India vs Afghanistan match live streaming will be available live on Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 with English Commentary and Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD with Hindi Commentary. The live streaming of the World Cup 2019 India vs Afghanistan match will be available on Hotstar.

Squads
 

India World Cup squad: Virat Kohli (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Rohit Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant

Afghanistan World Cup squad: Gulbadin Naib (c), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah (wk), Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Ikram Ali Khil