IND vs AFG: The first T20I between India & Afghanistan revolved around the return of their veteran player Rohit Sharma. Notably, the IND vs AFG 1st T20I marked Rohit’s maiden T20I assignment after a gap of 14 months with his last appearance being India’s semi-final during the T20 World Cup 2022. All the eyes were on Rohit’s performance but he couldn’t leave the mark as his time on crease was reduced due to a mix-up with opening partner Shubmanm Gill.
What confusion happened that resulted in Rohit’s dismissal?
In a disappointing turn of events on the second ball of the first over delivered by Fazalhaq Farooqi, Rohit got run out without scoring even a single run. The abrupt dismissal resulted in Rohit Sharma showing a frustrated gesture towards Gill. The incident happened when Rohit played the ball to mid-off, signaling for a single, but Gill remained stationary, fixated on the ball. Till the time Gill reacted Rohit had already reached the other end resulting in his run-out. The Afghanistan fielders executed the run-out efficiently, leaving Rohit visibly upset as he made his way back to the dugout.
Talking about the fixture a stunning 68-run stand off 43 balls between Mohammad Nabi & Azmatullah Omarzai helped Afghanistan to reach 158-5 after India dominated the powerplay in the overplay overs. A stunning partnership between Nabi (42 off 27) and Omarzai (29 off 22) revived the Afghans’ innings after the hosts reduced the visitors to 57 for three in 10 overs.
Openers Rahamanullah Gurbaz (23 off 28) and skipper Ibrahim Zadran (25 off 22) could only find four boundaries in the powerplay. The beginning of the fixture was delayed by a few minutes as the flickering blue light around the sightscreen distracted Gurbaz. Pacer Arshdeep Singh opened the innings with a maiden before the spinners got into the game as early as the fourth over.
India outclassed Afghans in every department
Axar Patel starred with the ball for India returning with figures of 4-0-32. He had stumped Hurbaz with a fast and straight delivery after the opener slog-swept him for a six. Zadran was the next to disperse as he smashed a slow ball from Shivam Dube straight to India skipper Rohit Sharma at cover.
It was only the second ball of his opening spell. Rahmat Shah who made his T20I debut on the back of 106 ODIs chopped on to stump a flat delivery from Axar. Afghanistan needed to move ahead & that came via the experience of Nabi and Omarzai, who had impressed with his all-round abilities in the ODI World Cup in India. While the top-order struggled to rotate strike, Omarzai and Nabi showed their teammates how to build a T20 innings.
India completed the chase with ease in 18 overs
Both the top-order batters targeted Ravi Bishnoi and Mukesh Kumar in the middle overs. Nabi’s back-to-back sixes off Mukesh stood out in his quickfire knock. He first made room to smash Mukesh over extra cover & then waited for the second ball to dispatch it over mid-wicket. Najibullah Zadran (19 not out off 11) and Karim Janat (9 not out off 5) took the total past 150. India dropped three catches but still managed to restrict Afghanistan to 158 runs.
In reply, India lost opener Rohit Sharma early without scoring even a single run. But quick cameos of Shubman Gill (23) & Tilak Varma (26) followed by stunning knocks from Shivam Dube (60) & Jitesh Sharma (31) meant India chased the target within 18 overs registering a gleaming 6 wickets win. India & Afghanistan will battle it out in the second T20I which will be played on 14th August on the grounds of Indore.
Also read, Rohit Sharma forgets the name of a teammate, Video goes Viral
