2nd T20I: Injured Varun's absence, fifth-bowler conundrum beset India's push for series win
The injury-forced absence of Varun Chakravarthy, who was ruled out with a fresh side strain on Monday, and Hardik Pandya has deepened India's fifth-bowler conundrum in their push for a series victory over Afghanistan in the second T20I here on Tuesday. The World Cup winners India returned to the shortest format with a dominant show, beating Afghanistan by seven wickets in a one-sided contest on Sunday here to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match rubber. Shreyas Iyer's men ticked all the boxes as pacer Arshdeep Singh and opening batter Abhishek Sharma produced sensational performances to set up the win. While Arshdeep (3/19) was precise in his execution to help India restrict Afghanistan to 156 for eight, Abhishek came out all guns blazing with a 32-ball 82 to help complete the chase in 13.4 overs. However, Chakravarthy, who picked up a wicket in the series opener after recovering from a hamstring injury that he had suffered during the tour to England in July, was on Monday ruled out of the series due to a side strain, rendering him doubtful for the upcoming Asian Games as well. His absence leaves a major void in India's bowling unit, and Iyer needs to address it before India turn their attention to the Asian Games gold later this week. Jasprit Bumrah made a successful return from injury, taking a wicket, while Axar Patel too was frugal in the middle-overs. But Iyer struggled to fill the fifth bowler slot and his batting all-rounders -- Shivam Dube and Nitish Kumar Reddy -- could not step up. Dube conceded 21 runs after coming on to bowl for the first time in the last over. Reddy went for 30 in his two overs. Abhishek also rolled his arm over for an over, but the trio's collective four overs leaked 59 runs. With the specialist bowlers -- Arshdeep, Bumrah, Axar and Chakravarthy -- doing the bulk of the damage, India were never really tested. But Chakravarthy's absence will make Iyer's life harder as he would want a more settled option with the Asian Games on the horizon. Iyer might bring in leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi or go for off-spin all-rounder Washington Sundar as his replacement. In the batting department, Abhishek quashed doubts around his form with an entertaining innings, while in-form Ishan Kishan shrugged off a minor back injury scare sustained during training here to produce a 33-ball 42, that was studded with five fours and a maximum. However, opener Sanju Samson (10) continued to live on the edge and will hope to come up with a substantial innings after falling early on Sunday. The Kerala batter was the star of India's T20 World Cup triumph but his form has been topsy-turvy ever since, having scored 33 runs in four innings before the Afghanistan series. With in-form youngster Vaibhav Sooryavanshi breathing down his neck, Samson would hope to turn the tide quickly and retain his slot as Iyer finalises the XI for India's Asian Games campaign in Japan. However, these are minor issues for a team that is operating like a well-oiled machine, and Afghanistan will have to come up with much better plans to contain the side. The Afghans were no match for India in the opening game, lacking the batting firepower and the bowling attack to put their opponents under any kind of pressure. It is a short series and Afghanistan will need a far stronger batting effort after their top order struggled to build momentum in the opening game. The early wickets of key batters Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Azmatullah Omarzai on Sunday put Afghanistan under pressure as they lost half their side for 43 in the seventh over. The partnership between Mohammad Nabi and Omarzai offered hope but the visitors now need bigger contributions to level the series. "We had three overs of good start, then we didn't contribute well. We gave them back-to-back wickets and they put pressure on us, and we batted well in the middle overs, but we didn't put lots of runs on the board what we wanted," Afghan skipper Ibrahim Zadran said on Sunday. Teams: India: Sheryas Iyer (captain), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryvanshi, Yash Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi. Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (captain), Darwish Rasooli, Noor ul Rahman, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Nangeliya Kharote, Abdollah Amhedzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmed. Match Starts at 7:30 pm.
