Why is Steve Smith not playing ICC World Cup 2023, match 39 against Afghanistan?

Australia will be looking to seal their semi-final qualification with a win against a buoyant Afghanistan side in the ongoing ODI World Cup on Tuesday, November 7 in Mumbai.

However, the five-time champions have suffered a major setback as Pat Cummins said at the toss that Steve Smith, who is suffering from vertigo, struggled during the warm-ups and is out of the playing XI. He has been replaced by in-form all-rounder Mitchell Marsh. Glenn Maxwell, who missed the previous game due to a concussion, returns to the side in place of Cameron Green.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan made just one change to their playing XI as Naveen-ul-Haq replaced fellow seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Australia are in prolific form, having won five games in a row. Their most recent win came against Ashes rivals England last week. Afghanistan are on a winning run of their own as they have beaten Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands in their three previous games. A win for the 'Blue Tigers' will take them to the brink of semi-final qualification.

What did the captains say at the toss?

Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and opted to bat first. He reckoned that the pitch looked good for batting and could help the bowlers in the second innings. Pat Cummins said that he would have liked to have batted first as well. The star pacer expressed his happiness as all of his players have done well at various stages in the marquee event.

Hashmatullah Shahidi: 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, and we were excited to see him and learn from 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.

Pat Cummins: Not too much (worried about the toss). 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, and Maxwell and Marsh are in. Really happy with the way we have gone, five (wins) in a row, one of the most pleasing things is we have played 14 guys so far and everyone has done well, long may that continue. It (weather conditions) is always a factor, it is a bit cooler than it was a month ago, but we will be fine we have got plenty of bowling options.

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(C), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil(WK), Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad

Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis(WK), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins(C), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Also Read: AUS vs AFG Live Updates