India captain Rohit Sharma wins toss, opts to bowl against Afghanistan in 2nd T20I; Kohli returns

Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal have replaced Shubman Gill and Tilak Varma in the playing XI.

Indore: India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first against Afghanistan in the second T20I of a three-match series here at Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Sunday.

In the opener of the series, India registered a 6-wicket win over Afghanistan. India’s star batter Virat Kohli returned to India’s playing XI for the second T20I in Indore after missing the opening match of the series due to personal reasons.

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Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal have replaced Shubman Gill and Tilak Varma in the playing XI.

Speaking at the time of toss, Rohit said, “We are gonna bowl first. No particular reason. Just nature of the ground especially the small boundaries. The things we were talking in our meeting, we were able to come out and execute in the first game. We asked for specific roles from the guys and they performed accordingly. Not much, they don’t have any baggage and it is all about backing them, allowing them to be free on the ground. We will do things keeping the WC in mind but we know results are also important. Kohli and Jaiswal back for Gill and Tilak.” Afghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran said, “We will try to bat well today and put runs on the board. Again lost the toss and I would have wanted to bowl first. We spoke about the first game and worked in the net session yesterday. We did not have a good start with the bat in the last game, we spoke and hopefully, we can give a good start today. Rahmat is not playing. Noor Ahmad is playing.” India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(w), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh and Mukesh Kumar.

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.