Asia Cup 2018: India should bat first against Afghanistan, says Laxman Sivaramakrishnan

Former India leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan feels India should try and bat first against Afghanistan in their last Super Four clash at the 2018 Asia Cup on Tuesday.

After having booked their berth for the summit clash on Friday, following huge defeats against Bangladesh and Pakistan respectively, India face a resolute Afghanistan, who have been badly inflicted by two consecutive last-over defeats. With Afghanistan playing for pride, Sivaramakrishnan reckons that it will be a good strategy if India try and defend a total.

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“India would like to bat first and defend a target. They have won their last three games comfortably whilst chasing, so it will be a nice change to put a total on the board and then see how the bowling group reacts to it,” Sivaramakrishnan wrote in his column for the Times of India on Tuesday.

“Afghanistan are no pushovers and must count themselves desperately unlucky that two successive last-over defeats have prematurely ended their campaign. They are an even more dangerous side when wounded, and India will do well not to take them lightly.”