India vs Scotland Highlights, T20 World Cup 2021: India crush Scotland by 8 wickets to stay in contention

George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer (c), Matthew Cross (w), Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Safyaan Sharif, Alasdair Evans, Bradley Wheal

KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

Birthday boy India skipper Virat Kohli wins the toss, opts to field first against Scotland in Dubai.

After thrashing Afghanistan, Kohli and Co. look for a big win again to boost their net run rate and keep faint semis hopes alive. Rahul Dravid, the new Team India head coach, will know a thing or two about what it means for an Indian team to not go beyond the first round of a World Cup. Having steam-rolled Afghanistan, the Virat Kohli-led Indian team is set to face Kyle Coetzer-led Scotland next. Like any self-respecting 'underdog', the Scots too have punched above their weight. In fact, they first began the trend of upsets in this edition with a brilliant win over Bangladesh at the very beginning.

Ashwin, who last played an international game in June in the World Test Championship, finally got a game after nearly four and half months. He was named in the playing XI after mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy developed a left calf issue. That Chakravarthy is not ready for high pressure international cricket has been exposed and it is unlikely he will feature any further in the tournament. Seamer Mohammed Shami will have his tails up after a three-wicket haul in the last match and so will be Jasprit Bumrah. Unless there is an injury or two, India are unlikely to tinker with the combination that clicked so well in their last outing.

If the batting was all about aggression, India's bowling too delivered against Afghanistan, with seasoned off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin signalling his T20I return after a four-year gap with an excellent spell. Finally, featuring in the playing XI after endless chatter around his absence, Ashwin not only picked up two wickets but was also very economical with the ball, giving away only 14 runs in his full quota of four overs. Needless to say, skipper Kohli was delighted with Ashwin's returns and lauded his effort after the game.

Days after the questionable move to demote him to number three, Rohit Sharma was back to where he belongs, and he showed his class in signs that are ominous for India's upcoming opponents in Scotland and Namibia. Rohit did admit that some of the "decision making" wasn't correct and attributed it to the fatigue factor with the team being on the road for at least a week. Rohit, his opening partner KL Rahul, and the swashbuckling duo of Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya, fired against the Afghans and they will fancy their chances of doing an encore tonight.