IND vs AFG Final LIVE: Just under 2000 kilometres away from Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, where India are all set to begin their Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign against Australia on October 8 (Sunday), lies Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang province and the venue of the delayed Asian Games 2022 where the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led men’s cricket team is on the verge of adding a historic gold medal to India’s tally. While the women’s team had already struck gold in the T20I cricket competition, now it is the men’s cricket team’s chance to repeat the same when they lock horns against Gulbadin Naib-marshalled Afghanistan on Saturday (October 7).

While there were chances of an epic India vs Pakistan Clash in the men’s T20 Cricket final for the gold medal, in the second semifinal played between Pakistan and Afghanistan, it was the Afghans who had the last laugh. They first bowled out Pakistan for a mere 115 in 18 overs before chasing down the total in 17.5 overs. Fareed Ahmad was the star with the ball for Aghanistan as he scalped 3 wickets for 15 runs while Noor Ali Zadran top-scored with 39 to force Pakistan to play the bronze medal match against Bangladesh which is also slated on Saturday (October 7). 

Bangladesh, meanwhile, succumbed to a defeat in the first semifinal against India. In a fixture that was dominated by the Men in Blue, they first kept Bangladesh down to 96/9 at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field, Hangzhou which is where all Asian Games cricket matches have been played, before completing a comprehensive victory with 9 wickets in hand and 64 balls remaining. Tilak Varma (55* off 26) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (40* off 26) ensured that India march into the summit clash in style. Sai Kishore had a wonderful outing as well as he had 3 wickets to show to his credit in his 4-over spell where he conceded just 12 runs.

While India would be hoping to repeat a similar performance against Afghanistan, they would be aware that their opponent aren’t mere pushovers. It promises to be a riveting encounter coming your way from Hangzhou. Enjoy quick and speedy updates of the game at ABP LIVE.

Squads:

India: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Prabhsimran Singh, Akash Deep

Afghanistan: Gulbadin Naib(c), Sediqullah Atal, Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Noor Ali Zadran, Shahidullah Kamal, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Qais Ahmad, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Zahir Khan, Sayed Shirzad, Nijat Masood, Zubaid Akbari, Wafiullah Tarakhil