India vs Afghanistan: Virat and Rohit grind hard in nets before crucial T20 WC tie; watch

Ahead of India's crucial clash against Afghanistan in the ICC T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were seen grinding very hard in the nets during a practice session. India have to win their match against Afghanistan, or they will no longer be competing for a spot in the semi-finals after losing their last two matches against Pakistan and then New Zealand. Rohit Sharma is yet to show his hard-hitting, aggressive batting style, and Kohli will be looking to improve his performance in the next match.

Kohli can be seen hitting a straight drive and cut shots while Rohit was practising his big-hitting with some pull shots and a cover drive. India will need these two to be performing at their highest level if they are to have a chance to go through to the semi-finals.

How can India qualify for WC semis?

India are now dangerously close to being knocked out of the tournament after losing both of their matches so far in the World Cup as only the top two teams from the two groups will go through to the next round. India were the favourites according to many and it would be a huge shock if they were out of the tournament before the semi-finals. To get through to the next round, India will need to make sure of the following things:

Team India currently stands 5th in Group 2 of the Super 12, and in order to go through to the semifinals, they need to win all three of their next games against Afghanistan, Scotland, and then Namibia. However, that will not be enough for Team India to secure a berth in the semi-finals as they also require New Zealand to lose by a margin big enough that their net run rate falls. Afghanistan are also playing well and they have the second-highest NRR in the World Cup with +3.097, so, India will have to defeat them by a big margin if they are to have a chance to go through. If India loses even one match during this, they will not be in contention for the semi-final spot.

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