Kris Srikkanth advised India before their Super 8 match against Afghanistan to “don’t let them bat first.”

Prior to Thursday, June 20, at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados, the highly anticipated Super Eight match between the two Asian teams, Kris Srikkanth issued a warning to India on Afghanistan’s bowling capabilities.

In the first round of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, Afghanistan defeated the West Indies after winning against Uganda, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. India, meanwhile, defeated Pakistan, Ireland, and the United States before their last match against Canada was called off because of a flooded outfield.

In the Super Eight stage of the competition, Australia, Bangladesh, and India are grouped together in Group 1. Every game will be vital because there are only two clubs from this group who will advance to the playoffs. Afghanistan’s “terrific” bowling unit can make chasing totals difficult, thus Indian skipper Rohit Sharma shouldn’t let them bat first, according to Srikkanth, the 1983 ODI World Cup winner.

“Things against Afghanistan cannot be taken lightly. They have a strong squad and excellent bowling unit. If I were Rohit Sharma, I would choose to bat first if I were the Indian captain. Avoid letting Afghanistan bat first, since they have the ability to reach between 160 and 170 runs, and their bowlers might perhaps defend the total. Afghanistan’s batting is quite poor, despite having excellent bowling, Srikkanth said Star Sports.

Afghanistan lost by five wickets to the West Indies in their meaningless match, although they only lost by 58, 75, and 95 runs to Uganda, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, respectively.

With an economy rate of 6.66 and 12 wickets from four games, left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi is playing at an incredible level. Along with that, he took five wickets off Uganda and then four off the Kiwis. In addition, Naveen-ul-Haq and Rashid Khan have also bowled well, taking six and five wickets, respectively. Another important player against the left-handed Indian batting lineup is Mohammad Nabi. Although the youthful Noor Ahmad has only claimed one wicket in the three games played thus far, he has been incredibly frugal, giving up runs at a rate lower than 4.89.