IND vs AFG 2nd T20I: Shreyas Iyer wins toss, elects to bowl first against Afghanistan

Shreyas Iyer (Pic: X/@ICC)

In the second T20I match against Afghanistan, Team India's skipper Shreyas Iyer has won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

The "Men in Blue" have entered the match with just one change, where Varun Chakaravarthy has been replaced by Ravi Bishnoi. Chakaravarthy has been ruled out of the remainder of the series as he has sustained a side strain.

After winning the toss, Team India's skipper Iyer said, "We're going to bowl first. Talking about tails, it's been lucky for me for the last couple of matches, irrespective of the results where it's gone. [On whether bowling first is a distinct advantage in T20 cricket] Well, you have a fair idea about how the wicket plays, and the bowler, it's important for the bowler to adapt as quickly as possible. So once you gauge the pace of the wicket, you know how the wicket is playing. So it becomes a little bit of advantage, but whichever team plays the best, they win. [On whether there was anything India wanted to do differently after the first T20I] Yes, absolutely. It wasn't comprehensive, though. We could have won it by a huge margin, but Azmat and Nabi, they played very well in between and they got crucial partnership. So kudos to them in that. And we as a bowling unit, we could have probably got some more wickets in the middle, especially in that phase from 10 to 15. And then coming into bat, obviously, they were phenomenal in their approach. [On changes to the playing XI] Yes, we've got one change. Unfortunately, Varun has got a side strain, so Bishnoi comes in for him".

On the other hand, Afghanistan's captain Ibrahim Zadran said, "[On losing the toss and being asked to bat first] Again, I would say if I have won the toss, I wanted to bowl first. But unfortunately, we lost it again and we will try to think about batting department, how to execute the plan well according to the condition. [On wanting a better start after losing several wickets inside the first 50 runs in the first T20I] Yeah, exactly. We thought about it. We want to play positive cricket. We came with positive intent. Yes, we didn't get a good start that day, but we covered in the middle overs. But we will try to play better cricket today, have a good start in the power play and put a good total on the board. [On whether Afghanistan have made any changes to the XI] No, we have got same eleven".

IND vs AFG 2nd T20I: Confirmed Playing XIs

India: Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh.

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran (C), Sediqullah Atal, Gulbadin Naib, Drawish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi.