In the first T20 International of the year, India defeated Afghanistan by six wickets at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali, on January 11. Despite losing four wickets while chasing 159 runs, the squad was led by Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Tilak Varma, and Rinku Singh. India now leads the tri series 1-0 after this victory.
India’s batting began in a disheartening way when Ibrahim Zadran ran out captain Rohit Sharma (0) in the opening over. After that, in the fourth over, Shubman Gill (23), was dismissed by Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Although he gave some impetus, Tilak Verma (26), lost his wicket in the ninth over to Azmatullah Omarzai.
Jitesh Sharma and Shivam Dube had a strong working relationship after this. However, in the fourteenth over, Sharma (31) was dismissed by Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Rinku Singh (16) reached the crease after that, and there was no going back. With his second half-century in Twenty20, Shivam Dube (60) helped India defeat Afghanistan by six wickets.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman claimed two wickets for Afghanistan, while Azmatullah Omarzai claimed one wicket.
Afghanistan had earlier conceded 158/5 to India in the opening Twenty20 International.
The visitors’ best scorer, Mohammad Nabi, supported the innings with a fast 42 off 27 balls.
Afghanistan’s captain Ibrahim Zadran (25 off 22 balls) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 off 28) combined 50 runs in eight overs were asked to bat first, but they were unable to push the tempo during their visit.
With a 22-ball 29, Azmatullah Omarzai added to the scoring.
With scores of 2/23, left-arm spinner Axar Patel emerged as India’s most successful bowler, followed by Mukesh Kumar with 2/33.
In the opening T20 International against Afghanistan, India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Due to injury, Sanju Samson, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, and Yashashvi Jaiswal—who was chosen to open with the skipper on the eve of the first game—will miss the contest. At the toss, Rohit remarked that Yashashvi “didn’t pull off well”.But, fans will miss veteran Indian hitter Virat Kohli, who was selected in the Indian XI for the Afghanistan series but isn’t eligible to play in the opening game due to “personal reasons.”
In Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav’s absence, Shubman Gill is anticipated to assume the number 3 place while coach Rahul Dravid has declared that Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will start the batting for India.
In the meanwhile, it is anticipated that Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, and Sanju Samson will get positions in the Indian playing XI, occupying nearly every position in the top six Indian batting order. However, top bowler Rashid Khan’s decision to miss the T20 series dealt a serious setback to Afghanistan ahead of the India series. Although it will be intriguing to see who steps forward to fill the important player’s place, Afghan coach Jonathan Trott seems to have accepted Rashid’s withdrawal in stride.
During the pre-game press conference, Trott stated, “It goes without saying that we will miss a player with Rashid’s leadership and all-around contribution to the team. However, it will be interesting to see, only a few months after the World Cup, who will step up and accept accountability.”
