- By Himanshu Badola
- Thu, 11 Jan 2024 08:47 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
India vs Afghanistan 1st T20I, Mohali Weather Report: India and Afghanistan will face off in a three-match T20I series with the first match scheduled to be played at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on January 11, Thursday.
The series will be the last assignment for the Men in Blue in the shortest format before the T20 World Cup 2024 scheduled to be played later this year in June.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are back at the helm in T20I cricket for the first time since the 2022 World Cup exit with the latter unavailable for the opening match due to personal reasons whereas the former will be leading the side.
The series will be closely observed by the selectors as they will identify potential figures for the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies.
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It also marks the first-ever limited-over bilateral series involving these two Asian countries, having only met in the multi-nation tournaments previously.
On the other hand, Ibrahim Zadran will continue to lead the Afghanistan side consisting of promising players like Rahamanullah Gurbaz, Mujeeb Rahman, and Naveen-ul-Haq but will be without their premium spinner Rashid Khan who has been ruled out of the whole series.
India vs Afghanistan 1st T20I, Mohali Weather Forecast
As Mohali prepares to host the first T20I cricket match between India and Afghanistan on Thursday, all eyes will be on weather conditions to ensure the staging of the action amid the chilly winter season in the northern part of the country.
The match is expected to remain out of the danger of any rain interruption but the contest might face other challenges.
The weather is anticipated to be chilly throughout the day, with average daytime temperatures expected to be hovering around 13°C and may drop to approximately 10°C at night.
The first T20I match between India and Afghanistan in Mohali could also witness visibility issues due to fog and heavy dew is likely to settle on the outfield as well during the match hours which could potentially affect play.
India vs Afghanistan 1st T20I Mohali Pitch Report
The wicket at Mohali’s Punjab Cricket Association Stadium is known to be slightly helpful for the batters.
The last T20I match hosted at this venue witnessed Australia chasing down a mammoth target of 209. The average first-innings score on this ground in the shortest format is 183. Pacers can enjoy bowling when the ball remains new during the initial overs, while spinners will come in handy later in the game.
Considering the dew factor, the batters might enjoy finding the rhythm in scoring as the chasing side will have more chances to emerge victorious.
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India Full Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar
Afghanistan Full Squad: Ibrahim Zadran (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem, Qais Ahmad, Gulbadin Naib