ODI World Cup 2023: Weather and pitch report for India vs Afghanistan

Team India will be taking on Afghanistan in Match 9 of the 2023 ODI World Cup on Wednesday, October 11. The two will clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi from 2 pm (IST) onwards. This would be the second match of both teams in the ongoing World Cup. The Rohit Sharma-led side defeated Australia by six wickets to kick off their campaign on a positive note. On the other hand, Hashmatullah Shahidi’s men lost to Bangladesh by six wickets.

The Men in Blue registered a thrilling win against the five-time champions, but they sweated hard to get the two points. After losing three early wickets, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul’s partnership of 165 runs gave life to the hosts. Their star opener Shubman Gill is set to miss the second game as well as he is yet to fully recover from dengue. It won’t be easy for the Afghan side to beat India, but they will look to put on an impressive performance against the two-time champions.

Weather Report:

Fortunately, rain has never wreaked havoc on any of the World Cup matches so far, but it was always a threat. The good news for cricket fans is that there is no chance of rain during the India-Afghanistan match in Delhi. Weather.com reports that there is no chance of rain in the capital between 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11. The afternoon temperature is forecast to be around 36 degrees Celsius and the evening temperature will be around 30 degrees Celsius. However, in the second innings, the dew factor is expected to come into play. In short, an exciting complete match awaits the cricket fans.

Pitch Report: 

The Arun Jaitley Stadium surface is known for assisting the batters and the same is expected in the IND – AFG match. Although the pacers are likely to get more bounce, the ball will come into the bat better and help the batters. An example of how this pitch can be a threat to the bowling unit is the recently concluded South Africa-Sri Lanka match. The Proteas hitters posted the highest score in ODI World Cup history – 428 for 5.

India vs Afghanistan Probable Playing XI:

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

Afghanistan Playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi