India and Afghanistan are gearing up to meet in the second match of their three-match series on Tuesday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. India have already taken a 1-0 lead after toppling Afghanistan in the opening game. The pressure, however, is on Afghanistan, who would hope to come out with a highly improved performance to keep their hopes of winning the series alive. In the opening T20I, India chased down a target of 157 very comfortably, overhauling the target in 13.4 overs.

For India, it was Abhishek Sharma, who turned the match into a one-sided affair after unleashing a stunning 82 from 32 deliveries, slamming seven sixes and seven fours. Ishan Kishan also played a key role with 42 off 33. But opening batter Sanju Samson needs to come up with a big knock to repay the faith following his early departure in the opening game where he managed only 10 runs. As for Afghanistan, the second match is a do-or-die outing for them, and their top order needs to perform.

In the first T20I, which slipped away from them during a disastrous first seven overs, they suffered a dramatic collapse, being reduced to 43/5 in seven overs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz had a night to forget, departing for a duck. Captain Ibrahim Zadran also failed to make a major contribution, being run out for 11 following a mix-up with Sediqullah Atal. Still, Azmatullah Omarzai notched up the innings of the day, hitting an unbeaten 64 to guide the team to a respectable total.

Mohammad Nabi, using his experience, scored 33 from 27 deliveries, but all of that could not help Afghanistan corner India. Going into this match, Afghanistan would eye a collective performance in order to level the series and set up the final. 

Head-to-head

Matches - 10

IND won - 8

AFG won - 

No result - 1

Tied - 1

Afghanistan likely XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Gulbadin Naib, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq

India likely XI: Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi/Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah