After Afghani stunner, India can hurt Aussies

India will be out to derail Australia’s T20 World Cup campaign when they take on their shocked and underpressure opponents in their final Super 8 game Gros Islet (Saint Lucia) on Monday. A third straight win for India will not only make them the group toppers and send them to the semifinals, it will also substantially threaten Australia’s chances of progressing through to the semi-finals, following the unexpected loss to Afghanistan in Saint Vincent on Saturday night.

Afghanistan pulled the upset of epic proportions with a shock 21-run win over mighty Australia with Gulbadin Naib’s four-wicket haul upending Pat Cummins’ hat-trick to produce one of most memorable days in Afghan cricket.

Using the slower balls smartly on a difficult batting wicket, the Afghans defended their total of 148 for six for their first-ever win over Australia in international cricket. Australia were all out for 127 in 19.2 overs.


Fol lowing the reverse, Australia don’t have the destiny in their own hands and will be keenly tracking Rashid Khan’s team final game against Bangladesh on Monday night.

India would like to see a pre-mature exit of their strong rivals. On fine-tuning their game ahead of the knockouts, India don’t need to do much having ticked all boxes in their back-toback wins against Afghanistan and Bangladesh.