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Former South African pacer Dale Steyn said that Afghanistan speedster Fazalhaq Farooqi's performance is going to be crucial in deciding his team's fortunes in the match, pointing out that he possesses the skill to dismiss star openers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
India will be playing Afghanistan in their ICC T20 World Cup Super Eights game at Barbados on Wednesday. India ended their group stage with three wins in three matches against Ireland, Pakistan and the USA in Group A while their last game against Canada ended in a washout. Afghanistan ended the group stage in second place in Group C, with three wins and a loss to West Indies. Speaking in a video by ICC, Steyn said that being a left-arm pacer, Farooqi has got the skillset to knock over two of India's biggest stars, who have had some struggles against left-arm pacers in the past as well. "One of the defining factors for me is going to be the new ball bowler Farooqi. He is the leading wicket-taker in this year's T20 World Cup and the big thing for me is his left-arm seam and swing against India's right-arm (right-handed) opening batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Being a left-armer Farooqi has got the skills to knock over both Virat and Rohit LBW," said Steyn. On the strategy Farooqi could utilise against left-handed wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, Styen said that the bowler could use his outswingers against the explosive batter. "Once Rishabh Pant comes in, Farooqi's skills of taking the ball away from him could find that edge in Barbados. Early morning start, it is going to be an interesting one, but I think that is going to be the big challenge for India in that game," he added. Farooqi is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament so far, with 12 wickets in four games at an average of 6.66 and an economy rate of 5.58, with the best bowling figures of 5/9. Rohit has faced off against Farooqi in three innings across all of T20s, scoring just four runs in 12 balls without a boundary or six and being dismissed by him once. Virat has scored 37 runs against Farooqi in two innings and has never been dismissed by the pacer. He has hit him for four boundaries and two sixes against Farooqi, with a strike rate of 231.25. Squads: India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan(c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Mohammad Ishaq, Nangeyalia Kharote, Hazratullah Zazai. (ANI)
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