India lose Sharma early against Afghanistan in World Cup clash

India lost Rohit Sharma early after winning the toss and choosing to bat against struggling Afghanistan in their World Cup match in Southampton on Saturday

Unbeaten India made just one change to their line-up after their win against Pakistan, with seam bowler Mohammed Shami replacing the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Afghanistan, bottom of the 10-team World Cup table, made two changes, bringing in Hazratullah Zazai and Aftab Alam for Noor Ali Zadran and Dawlat Zadran.

Sharma, who has scored two centuries in the World Cup so far, was bowled by Mujeeb Ur Rahman for just one, leaving India seven for one in the fifth over.

"It looks like a really good wicket -- nice and hard," India captain Virat Kohli said earlier, after winning the toss.

"It's a beautiful day to play cricket so let's try and score lots of runs. Our mindset is always the same, regardless of the opposition. We can't take a side like Afghanistan lightly. We'll have to be on our A game and put in another precise performance."

Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib, whose side have lost all five of their matches in the tournament so far, said: "It doesn't matter if we win the toss or lose, it is a long day. I am happy with the batting (against England). It is a good thing we played out 50 overs."

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (capt), Vijay Shankar, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wkt), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah.

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Gulbadin Naib (capt), Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ikram Alikhil (wkt), Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Aftab Alam, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Richard Illingworth (ENG)

TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)

Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)

? 2019 AFP