NEW DELHI: Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and chose to bat against Australia in the 39th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Afghanistan made one change to their team bringing in Naveen-ul-Haq in place of Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Australia replaced Steve Smith and Cameron Green with Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell.
After winning the toss, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said, "We want to bat first. The wicket looks good now and we are hopeful it will seam and spin in the second innings. We have done well chasing but you also have to look at the opposition and the ground. He (Sachin Tendulkar) is a legend of the game, we were excited to see him and learn him, he had some words for us and we will try to learn from that. We have one change - Fazalhaq is not playing, Naveen is playing."
After losing the toss, Australia skipper Pat Cummins said, "Not too much. We would have had a bat but it is fine. Two changes.. Steve struggled in the warm-ups and he's going to miss out, Cam Green misses out as well, Maxwell and Marsh are in. Really happy with the way we have gone, five in a row, one of the most pleasing thing is we have 14 guys played so far and everyone has played well, long may that continue."
"Very flat and very even, but it is probably on the drier side than I have seen in the past," reckoned Aaron Finch in his pitch report.
"I can clearly see there's not enough grass cover on this pitch because it is unlike a Wankhede pitch. Advantage Afghanistan because of the kind of track that is there, it might grip and turn a little bit whether it is bowling first or second. It is always best, with humidity around, to bat first and put runs on the board," added Sanjay Bangar.
Afghanistan XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil(w), Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq
Australia XI: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis(w), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
