Afghan journeymen aim to stall India's journey

If one of Twenty20's main purposes is to globalise the game, Afghanistan are its success story. Their country has been in the news for unfortunate reasons, but its teams' qualification for back-to-back World Twenty20s and the Under-19 World Cup is a welcome story. By all accounts, the following back home matches the frenzy cricket brings to the rest of cricketing Asia.

For the second time in their two appearances in the T20 global event, Afghanistan have drawn neighbours India at the start of the tournament. They will dearly love to be the banana skin, and they know this format was founded on banana skins. They will want to put pressure on India's bowling, which can be brittle under fire.

For India this match is expected to provide some much-needed relief after their bowlers have faltered in two of their last three Twenty20s. They will do well, though, to not take their opponents lightly because this is an event where you need just three bad hours to book a return ticket.

Form guide (last 5 completed matches, most recent first)

Afghanistan LWWLL
India LWLWL