India - Afghanistan Predictions & Betting tips - ICC Men's Cricket World Cup

Prediction published on 09/10/2023, 15:30  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 09/10/2023 at 15:33

India and Afghanistan will contest the ninth match of 48 at the 2023 Cricket World Cup on Wednesday. The host nation are currently in fifth on the table, while the visitors are in seventh place. India got their World Cup campaign started with a positive result. They beat the heavily fancied Australians last week by six wickets and with 52 balls to spare. While that may seem like a dominant victory, it was not without a few concerns. India’s top order was sent tumbling as Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood who dismissed three of the top four batsmen with just two runs on the board. However, that was until Virat Kohli and KL Rahul stepped to the crease to put on a 165-run partnership, seeing their team to victory in the 42nd over. Ravichandra Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers for India, taking 3/28, while Jasprit Buhrah and Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets each. India have never lost to Afghanistan in ODIs and have won four of their last five one-day matches against all opponents. The hosts are the clear favourites in this match on the bookmaker's odds. 

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s World Cup campaign did not start as promisingly as their opponent’s. They were drawn against Bangladesh in their opening match, which they lost by 6 wickets with 92 balls remaining. After losing the toss and being put in to bat by the Tigers, Afghanistan managed to score just 156 in 37.2 overs before they were bowled out. Only Ranmanullah Gurbaz registered a score of any significance, making 47 in 62 balls, while no other batsman scored over 30. Despite a decent bowling performance, with a very poor score to defend, the likes of Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi were unable to contain their opponents. They lost the match in the 35th over. In contrast to their opponents, Afghanistan have only won one of their last five ODIs. That win came against Sri Lanka during the warm-up matches, and even then, the match was decided on the DLS methods. All indicators suggest that the visitors will struggle in this match.