Big picture: No threat of rain in Lucknow
However, rain reduced the game to a 25-over contest, not allowing a proper look at how the newcomers would handle the rhythm of a full 50-over match. It also meant that some Afghanistan batters, not known for their big-hitting, had to adapt on the go, something they could not do as well as they would have liked.
India: WLLWW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
Afghanistan: LWWWW
Team news: Does Kuldeep come in?
India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill (capt), 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul, 6 Washington Sundar, 7 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 8 Harsh Dubey, 9 Gurnoor Brar, 10 Kuldeep Yadav/Prasidh Krishna, 11 Arshdeep Singh
Afghanistan (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Sediqullah Atal, 4 Rahmat Shah, 5 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 AM Ghazanfar, 10 Mohammad Saleem, 11 Ziaur Rahman
In the spotlight: Gurnoor Brar and Rahmanullah Gurbaz
The last time the Ekana Cricket Stadium hosted an ODI was during the 2023 World Cup. It hosted five games during that tournament, a mix of high-scoring and low-scoring contests. There was no significant toss advantage either. Wednesday’s match will be played on a mixed-soil pitch. The temperature in the afternoon is likely to be around 39°C, and could drop to 33°C at night.
“We still have to have a look at the pitch and then decide what our combination is going to be. Definitely different conditions compared to Dharamsala – much more hotter – but still a decision has to be taken in terms of how we go ahead.”
India’s spin-bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule on whether Kuldeep Yadav could play in Lucknow
“In Dharamsala, everything changed so quickly. We went to the ground to play a 50-over game, but because of rain, the game became a 25-over one. I think our top order was not mentally ready for that, and we were in a rush to hit boundaries. But we are learning day by day, improving day by day.”
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi feels Afghanistan could have been better in the truncated match
