T20 World Cup India v Afghanistan: Latest Odds & Analysis

India v Afghanistan predictions: 

• India highest opening partnership - 1.61 @ 22Bet Sports
• Virat Kohli 30+ runs - 1.9 @ 22BetSports
• Hardik Pandya under 39.5 PP points - 1.83 @ 22Bet Sports

When: Thursday 20 June, 8:00pm IST

Where: Kensington Oval, Bridgetown

Watch: Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar

Best Odds: India 1.20, Afghanistan 4.5

After a fairly frustrating opening group stage in which they had to endure some horrendous New York pitches and a waterlogged outfield against Canada, India’s squad comes into the Super 8s looking somewhat underdone.

Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya both have single digit averages, Ravindra Jadeja hasn’t contributed a single run, wicket or catch to the cause; and Kuldeep Yadav, who is expected to be an instrumental part of the Caribbean leg of their campaign, was denied a chance to bowl by the wet weather in Florida.

They’ve been lumped into Group 1 with Australia, Bangladesh and upcoming opponents Afghanistan, who have been rated by cricket betting sites as rank outsiders to defeat India after a fairly limp performance against the West Indies in their previous outing.

Neither team could manage to win any of their three games combined in Bridgetown at the 2010 T20 World Cup, but this will be a new venue for the majority of the players, and with this World Cup effectively starting from scratch, the negatives of the previous three weeks can be buried. 

Our T20 World Cup best bets blog has had some tremendous success as we follow the Indian team throughout the tournament and we have scoured the many markets offered by one of our favourite cricket betting apps for what we hope are some more profitable picks.

The Numbers That Matter

• Barbados has the third-best batting average (21.07) and run rate (7.09rpo) of this T20 World Cup
• India had three different top batters (Pant, Rohit, SKY) and three different top bowlers (Hardik, Bumrah, Arshdeep) at this World Cup
• Ravindra Jadeja bowling in the Caribbean: 4-200 at 8.89rpo
• Najibullah Zadran's last six T20I innings: 0, 1*, 2, 9, 0, 5

India to land the first punch

Now that India have finally moved away from the pop-up stadium in New York for good, their numbers there at this T20 World Cup can probably be forgotten entirely due to the variable bounce and other demons offered by the pitches.

Their opening partnership of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli averaged just 11.67 runs, whilst their bowlers returned the favour and averaged 11 runs for their first wicket. 

Bigger numbers can understandably be expected in better batting conditions, and this could very well be the perfect opposition for Rohit and Virat to put together something more constructive and explosive.

We’ll expand on Virat’s numbers later when explaining why we expect him to score big, but complementing them is Rohit Sharma’s enormous average of 98 (196-2) in ODIs and T20Is against the seven bowlers Afghanistan used against the West Indies.

Further to that, Rohit returns to the Caribbean for his first innings in the region since 2022, having made two half-centuries from six starts, including 64 to start a bilateral series in that year. 

With Rohit also boasting two 50+ scores from five T20Is against Afghanistan and Kohli doing the same in four innings, this pair should thrive - and that’s not even to mention India’s powerplay bowling!

Prediction: India highest opening partnership - 1.61 @ 22Bet Sports

King Kohli on the ‘komeback’! 

Virat Kohli struggled immensely in New York but we and millions of other fans of his will be hoping that a change of venue prompts a change of fortune.

He boasts a batting average of 49.90 in the Caribbean across all three formats - 44 in Tests, 58 in ODIs and 37 in T20Is - all of which are well above the 27.5 run market set by betting sites in India for this game.

Whilst he has started only 12 innings as a T20 opener for Indian, it was only weeks ago that he won his second IPL Orange Cap (most tournament runs) at the top of the order.

Kohli should also enjoy the matchups he is likely to encounter in this game: against the seven bowlers Afghanistan used in their loss to the West Indies, Kohli averages an immense 103 in T20Is, 85 in ODIs and 53 in the IPL.

Even leading Afghan wicket-taker Rashid Khan has struggled to dismiss Kohli, doing so only twice in all three of those formats for 140 runs conceded. 

The numbers all fall into place for him to make his first impactful score of the tournament and kickstart his campaign.

Prediction: Virat Kohli to score 30+ runs - 1.9 @ 22BetSports

The chronicles of Hardik’s Caribbean concerns

He expertly exploited the variable bounce of the New York pitches to his advantage in the first stage, but things are set to get a bit tougher for all-rounder Hardik Pandya now that the tournament has left the USA.

Kensington Oval has produced some pitches at this T20 World Cup that have been more true and fair for batting, which could limit the impact of his bowling in a region where his batting has also struggled.

We’re going to back him to underwhelm in at least one of these two aspects and will attack the ‘player performance’ market, which awards a player one ‘point’ per run, 20 per wicket and ten for each catch.

Hardik has collected just six wickets from his seven T20Is in the Caribbean, landing in the 0-1 wicket range on six of seven occasions.

Further to that, he averages just 19.8 with the bat (including one 20no) and has gone on past 20 runs in just two of four innings.

If he were to take just the one wicket, score fewer than 20 runs and not take a catch in the field (he averages 0.48 catches per match), that would leave him well short of over 39.5.

Prediction: Hardik Pandya under 39.5 PP points - 1.83 @ 22Bet Sports