Hosts India will be eyeing a near-perfect game to maintain their impressive form today against a sprightly Afghanistan in their second match of the ICC World Cup.

India navigated their way through some extreme pressure moments on way to a six-wicket victory in their tournament opener against Australia but skipper Rohit Sharma started his campaign with a duck in Chennai.

As pointed out by Rohit, India's biggest challenge over the course of the group stage will be to quickly adapt to the conditions in nine different venues and the skipper himself will definitely try to get back his rhythm against Afghanistan.

After a slow and spinning track at Chennai's Chepauk Stadium, a belter of a surface is expected at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium, where more than 700 runs were plundered in a high-scoring affair between South Africa and Sri Lanka last week.

The smaller dimensions of the ground, where 31 sixes were hammered in the previous game, would also aid strokeplay. The main square was relaid ahead of the World Cup and that has clearly changed the nature of the surface.

Moreover, facing the Afghan attack would be easier for Rohit and Co than negotiating the likes of Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.

The game will also be a homecoming for chase master Virat Kohli, who reinforced his credentials while batting alongside K L Rahul in Chennai on Sunday night.

Batting in front of a pavilion named after him, Kohli will be expected to give his fans another night to remember.

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi however hoped leg-spin wizard Rashid Khan "delivers" against India as they attempt to stay on track after an opening defeat in the tournament against Bangladesh.

"Rashid is the best bowler in ODI and T20s, so whatever the opposition is doing, we don't care about that," said Shahidi.

"Like how they want to play Rashid, but for us the important thing is how he has planned against the opposition. So that matters for us."

Shahidi added: "He has the quality and whenever it's his day, he can do anything against the opposition, so we are expecting and we are hopeful that he delivers in tomorrow's game."

Shahidi said, however, spin alone will not win them matches.

"I made a statement at the beginning that we will play good cricket as a batting side. We have a good spin bowling attack, but only one department can't win you games."

Statbox

*The two sides have squared off only three times in ODIs, with India winning twice and one match ending in a tie.

*Their most recent meeting in the format was in the 2019 World Cup, which India won by 11 runs.

*Afghanistan are yet to play an ODI against India in India.