T20 World Cup 2021, Match 33: India vs Afghanistan, Stats Preview: Player records and approaching milestones

Team India would be raring to end their dismal run as they take on Afghanistan in their next fixture in the T20 World Cup 2021. The encounter takes place at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on November 3. Having lost their first two fixtures, the Men in Blue are virtually out of the semi-final race. However, India might go through if they win all their remaining games and other match results fall in their favour.

As far as Afghanistan are concerned, they won two of their three matches so far in the competition. While not many are backing them to qualify for the semi-finals, the Afghan side has some quality players in their ranks and they would back themselves to enter the knock-out stage. Hence, India can’t afford to put a foot wrong in this absolutely must-win fixture.

Notably, India’s net run rate, -1.609, is only better than that of last-placed Scotland. Hence, they need to win their remaining fixtures with a significant margin to give themselves an outside chance. However, the Mohmmad Nabi-led team is expected to give the inaugural-edition champions a tough competition. Hence, it would be interesting to see how this game pans out.

Meanwhile, let’s look at important stats and numbers ahead of the 33rd game of the T20 World Cup 2021:

Head to head: These two sides have met twice in T20Is before and India emerged victorious on both occasions. Both meetings were recorded in T20 World Cups.

9 – Virat Kohli needs 9 sixes to become the second Indian after Rohit Sharma to complete 100 T20I sixes.

4 – Hardik Pandya is four big hits away from completing 100 sixes in international cricket.

1 – Rashid Khan needs just one scalp to become the fourth bowler to complete 400 T20 wickets.

27 – Hazratullah Zazai needs 27 runs to complete 2000 runs in T20 cricket.

3 – Rashid Khan has dismissed KL Rahul thrice in T20 matches and that too in a span of 30 deliveries. The latter has a strike rate of 60 against the leg-spinner in this format.

7 – Mohammad Shahzad needs just seven runs to become the first player to complete 2000 T20I runs as wicketkeeper

64 – Rashid Khan is the highest wicket-taker in the T20s this year with 64 scalps under his belt.

4 – Mohammad Nabi needs four hits over the fence to complete 250 sixes in T20 cricket.

26 – Nabi can also complete 1500 T20 runs in the upcoming fixture. He is 26 runs short of the landmark.

11 – KL Rahul needs 11 runs to complete 5,500 runs in T20 cricket.

14 – A half-century will make Virat Kohli the player with the most 50-plus scores in T20Is as captain (14). He currently shares the feat with Babar Azam.

40 – Rohit Sharma needs 40 runs to become the second Indian player after Virat Kohli to complete 9,500 runs in T20 cricket.