WATCH: Indian fans cheer outside Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium ahead of Men in Blue's World Cup 2023 match against Afghanistan

India are up against Afghanistan in the 9th match of the 2023 ODI World Cup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday, October 11. The Men in Blue started their campaign on a high, defeating five-time champions Australia by six wickets in a thrilling encounter. On the other hand, Afghanistan suffered a six-wicket loss to Bangladesh in their opening match.   

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Although Team India managed to defeat Australia, their top-order collapse is a concern for them. Mitchell Stac and Josh Hazlewood did the damage early, sending back Ishan Kishan, captain Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer. However, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul steadied the ship for the hosts with a record partnership of 165 to give India two crucial points. 

Hashmatullah Shahidi's men failed to put up a decent performance against Bangladesh. Their openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran started off strongly but failed to capitalise. There was no significant contribution from the rest and as a result, The Tigers had only 157 runs to chase in 50 overs. A nearly 100-run partnership between Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto made it easy for them to cross the finish line in 34.4 overs. 

Massive support for Rohit Sharma and Co. in Delhi 

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Meanwhile, ahead of the IND - AFG match, a large group of Indian supporters were seen outside the Arun Jaitley Stadium cheering for their favourite team. In a viral video, fans wearing Indian blue jerseys can be heard chanting slogans like "Bharat Jitega". 

Watch the video below: 

🥳💙 Just the usual 𝘃𝗶𝗯𝗲𝘀 outside the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.#INDvAFG #INDvsAFG #CricketComesHome #CWC23 #3KaDream #TeamIndia #BharatArmy #COTI🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/FT4tZWv4VX

— The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) October 11, 2023

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India will aim to beat the underdogs by huge margins to increase their net run rate. Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first and they went with the same team that they played in the opening match. India, on the other hand, made a change to their previous line-up, replacing spin all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin with fast bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur. 

India vs Afghanistan Playing XI

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj