Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and elected to bat in their World Cup group match against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.
Five-times champions Australia made a slow start to the 50-overs showpiece event with defeats in their opening two games but a win over the Asian side will cement their spot in the semifinals.
Three consecutive victories have also put the Afghans in contention for a spot in the knockout stages and victories in their remaining two fixtures would guarantee them a semifinal place.
All-rounders Mitch Marsh and Glenn Maxwell returned to the Australia side after missing the win over England. Steve Smith, who complained of suffering from a bout of vertigo before the match, was ruled out and Cameron Green was dropped.
Afghanistan also made one change to their side from the win over the Netherlands with seamer Naveen-ul-Haq replacing Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Teams:
Australia: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq (Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Ed Osmond)
Published - November 07, 2023 03:09 pm IST
