IND vs AFG 2nd T20I: Virat Kohli To Replace Shubman Gill? Check Probable 11s For Potentially High-Scoring Indore Match

India vs Afghanistan 2nd T20I: The weather in Indore will remain sunny while pitch will offer runs as Virat Kohli retuns to T20Is after gap of more than a year.

Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill. (Image: ANI)

After winning the first T20I in Mohali, Team India will be looking to seal the series in Indore as they take on Afghanistan in the 2nd match at Holkar Stadium in Indore. India will be bolstered by the comeback of their ace batter Virat Kohli, who missed the 1st match due to personal reasons, which could have been to do with birthday of his daughter Vamika. Kohli boarded the flight from Mumbai to Indore on Saturday and will soon hit the nets too ahead of the match.

It will be interesting to see who Kohli replaces in the playing 11. The one player who could make way for Kohli could be Shubman Gill, who is struggling for runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal is also expected to make it to the playing 11 for the 2nd T20I after missing the 1st match due to a niggle. In that case, Gill and Tilak Varma are the likely players to make way for Jaiswal and Kohli.

The rest of the team should remain as is. Rohit is not a captain who likes to make many changes to the playing 11. If India win the Indore match, the benched players may get a shot in the third and last T20I.

No prizes for guessing where we are _

What happens when you have fun on your travel day _#TeamIndia | #INDvAFG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/1Xr8ZyDV5v — BCCI (@BCCI) January 13, 2024

Afghanistan will continue to miss the T20Is as he is still recovering from the surgery. He however is focussing on recovery while being with the Afghanistan team. The Afghans do not have luxury to make too many changes to the playing 11. They would look to win the 2nd T20I with the same team, backing the players who have experience of playing in India.

As far as the pitch is concerned, Holkar stadium traditonally offers a batting paradise. The ground has seen India smash 260 for 5 in 2017 vs Sri Lanka when Rohit Sharma smashed 118 off just 43 balls. This is also the highest team score at this ground. The secind highest score at this venue in T20Is was posted by South Africa against India in 2022 when they hit 227 for 3 in 20 overs.

The Accweather app tells us that it will be a pleasant day in Indore with temperature hovering around 25 degree celcius and no sign of fog with brigh sunshine likely to happen in Madhya Pradesh's financial capital. 

IND vs AFG 2nd T20I: Probable Playing 11s

India Probable Playing 11s: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar

Afghanistan Probable Playing 11s: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman