India vs Afghanistan Archives

India thump Afghanistan to kick off T20 World Cup Super Eight with a win

BRIDGETOWN: Suryakumar Yadav’s blistering half-century, followed by a combined bowling display led India to a comfortable 47-run victory over Afghanistan in the 43rd match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here on Thursday.

Chasing a daunting 182-run total, Afghanistan’s batting unit unfolded on just 134 on the final delivery of the innings.

Afghanistan got off to a dismal start to the pursuit as they lost three wickets upfront with just 23 runs on the board in 4.1 overs.

Following the early slump, Gulbadin Naib partnered with Azmatullah Omarzai in a bid to launch recovery.

The duo added 44 runs for the fourth wicket but both perished in successive overs as Afghanistan slipped to 71/5 in 11.1 overs.

Gulbadin Naib scored 17 off 21 balls, hitting two boundaries including a six while Omarzai remained the top-scorer for Afghanistan with 20-ball 26 which included two fours and a six.

Veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi stitched a resilient sixth-wicket partnership with Najibullah Zadran.

Their sixth-wicket stand yielded 31 runs and lasted with Zadran’s dismissal in the 16th over after scoring 19 off 17.

Nabi followed him back to the dugout in the next over after scoring a run-a-ball 14.

Afghanistan’s batting tail then crumbled against India’s dominant bowling attack despite Noor Ahmad’s valiant 12.

Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh led the bowling charge for India with three wickets each, followed by Kuldeep Yadav, who bagged two while Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with a wicket.

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Sent into bat first, India registered 181/8 on the scoreboard, courtesy of Yadav’s brisk half-century, followed by Hardik Pandya’s blitz.

India, however, had a shaky start to their innings as captain Rohit Sharma (8) fell victim to Fazalhaq Farooqi in the third over with just 11 runs on the board.

Virat Kohli then joined forces with Rishabh Pant and together they raised 43 runs until the latter perished on the last delivery of the seventh over.

Pant was the core aggressor of the stand, scoring a brisk 20 off 11 deliveries, while Kohli anchored through before perishing in the ninth over. He scored a run-a-ball 24.

Top-ranked T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav then took the reigns of India’s batting charge.

He put together a brief partnership with Shivam Dube, who could score 10 off seven deliveries, before finding subtle support at the other end in the form of Hardik Pandya.

Yadav and Pandya turned the tide in India’s favour with a quickfire 60-run partnership.

India’s crucial fifth-wicket stand lasted in the 17th over when Farooqi outclassed Yadav with a leg-cutter to provide a much-needed breakthrough to Afghanistan.

Suryakumar Yadav remained the top-scorer for India with a 28-ball 53 which featured five fours and three sixes.

India then sustained another massive blow to their batting expedition when set batter Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja perished in the same over, bringing the total down to 165/7 in 18.4 overs.

Pandya remained a notable run-getter for India with 32 off 24 deliveries, laced up with three fours and two sixes.

Later, Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh made notable contribution to India’s total with a 16-run stand which lasted with the former’s run out on the final delivery.

Patel scored 12 off six deliveries while Singh made two not out.

Fazalhaq Farooqi, the leading wicket-taker of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, and Rashid Khan bagged three wickets each for Afghanistan while Naveen-ul-Haq took one.

READ: Mohammad Hafeez reveals players’ shocking behaviour during his tenure

India win toss, elect to bat first against Afghanistan in T20 World Cup

BRIDGETOWN: India have won the toss and elected to bat first against Afghanistan in the 43rd match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here on Thursday.

PLAYING XIs

Both sides made one change to their lineups as Kuldeep Yadav came in for Mohammed Siraj while Afghanistan brought Hazratullah Zazai for Karim Janat.

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh.

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan (c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi.

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Speaking at the toss, India’s skipper Rohit Sharma stated that the track looks good to bat now but anticipated it to get slower with time.

“The track looks alright, don’t know how it’ll play. Feel it’ll get slower. Better than New York (laughs), we won there which was more important. Need to adapt now. We’ve been here 3-4 days and have practised,” Rohit said.

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan shared that he would have batted first but insisted that the toss does not matter much in T20s and vowed to focus on their execution.

“We’d have batted first as well but in T20s toss doesn’t matter as much as execution. Happy with how things have gone so far, especially with the batters,” Rashid said.

“Need to do the right things at the right time and control emotions as we go. We’ve been here couple of days longer than India which should help,” he added.

HEAD TO HEAD

India and Afghanistan have come face-to-face eight times in T20 Internationals. The Men in Blue have a perfect record, winning seven matches while one ended in a no result.

Matches 8, India 7, Afghanistan 0, NR 1

FORM GUIDE

India and Afghanistan have so far done well in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 as both sides booked their spots in the Super Eight stage with a game to spare.

The 2007 champions, however, remained unbeaten at the group stage while Afghanistan suffered defeat in their last group match against West Indies.

India: NR, W, W, W, W

Afghanistan: L, W, W, W, W

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ICC World Cup 2023: Bumrah, Rohit propel India to humble Afghanistan

DELHI: Jasprit Bumrah returned with figures of 4-39 before Rohit Sharma scored a quickfire century and lifted India to a thumping eight-wicket victory over Afghanistan in their second ICC World Cup 2023 match.

Chasing 273, India comfortably knocked the winning runs for the loss of just two wickets and 90 balls to spare.

Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan gave the hosts a flying start with an impeccable 156-run partnership.

Sharma dominated the opening stand by thrashing the Afghan bowlers and soon brought up his century in just 63 balls.

Afghanistan then finally found a moment to cherish in the 19th over when their star spinner Rashid Khan got rid of Ishan Kishan, who scored a run-a-ball 47 with the help of five boundaries and two sixes.

Sharma was then joined by Virat Kohli at the crease and the two veterans added 49 runs to the total together before Rashid struck again to dismiss the Indian captain.

Rohit Sharma remained the top-scorer for India with 131 in 84 balls, laced up with 16 boundaries and five sixes.

Kohli took charge of India’s pursuit after Rohit’s dismissal and comfortably led India over the line in just 35 overs, courtesy of an unbeaten half-century.

He scored 55 in 56 deliveries, hitting six boundaries.

For Afghanistan, only Rashid Khan picked two wickets while the rest went wicketless.

Bumrah provided India their first breakthrough in the seventh over at a total of 32 after Afghanistan opted to bat first.

Rahmat Shah and Rahmanullah helped Afghanistan to reach 63 with a brief 31-run stand before both batters fell within three deliveries.

With two new batters on the crease, India appeared to be in a dominant position however, Afghanistan batters counter-attacked to pull their team out of trouble.

Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai responded with a solid 121-run partnership for the fourth wicket, with batters reaching half-centuries.

Hardik Pandya broke the stand when he bowled Omarzai at the score of 184-4. Omarzai scored 62 off 69 with the help of two boundaries and four sixes.

Watch ICC World Cup 2023 Live on ARY ZAP

Shahidi stood his ground and was involved in a 41 partnership with Mohammad Nabi before Kuldeep Yadav trapped him in front of the stumps.

Shahidi top-scored for Afghanistan with an anchoring 82 off 88, featuring eight boundaries and one six.

Jasprit Bumrah then returned to attack to dismiss Mohammad Nabi and Najibullah Zadran in the same over, reducing Afghanistan to 235-7.

However, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman added valuable 26 runs for the eighth wicket before the former became Bumrah’s fourth victim in the penultimate over.

Other than Bumrah, Hardik Pandya picked two wickets while Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav picked one wicket each.

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ICC World Cup 2023: Afghanistan win toss, elect to Bat first against India

DELHI: Afghanistan have won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the ninth match of the ICC World Cup 2023 at Arun Jaitley Stadium.

PLAYING XIs

Afghanistan

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Watch ICC World Cup 2023 Live on ARY ZAP

India

Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD:

Overall ODIs: Matches 3, India 2, Afghanistan 0, Tied 1

ODI World Cup: Matches 1, India 4, Afghanistan 1

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India win Asian Games 2023 cricket gold without having to bat

India were crowned Asian Games 2023 men’s cricket champions on their first attempt and without needing to bat in an anti-climatic finish Saturday, consigning Afghanistan to a third consecutive silver.

They were declared winners of the final under an Asian Games 2023-specific rule where the higher-ranked team takes the honours if the match cannot be finished, in this case due to rain.

Afghanistan made 112-5 under the floodlights in Hangzhou before the wet weather arrived after 18.2 overs. With conditions not improving, the final was abandoned.

It completed a golden double for India after they beat Sri Lanka by 19 runs to be crowned women’s champions in Asian Games 2023 last week.

“It feels good, we’re very proud, wearing a medal is not something we’re used to and it’s emotional for everyone,” said India skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad.

“It is pretty disappointing because obviously we would love to have had a full game and get the result through that.

“I think even 140 or 150 was a pretty gettable target batting second because of the small ground and with the kind of batting we had,” he said. “We were pretty confident.”

Twenty20 cricket has been played at the Asian Games twice before, at Guangzhou 2010 and Incheon 2014, with Bangladesh and then Sri Lanka crowned men’s winners.

Afghanistan were runners-up both times, while India did not take part.

Despite another silver, Afghan captain Gulbadin Naib said his team could be proud.

“I was confident in our bowling, but unfortunately the rain came and they gave the gold to India,” he said.

“It’s bad luck, but overall in the Asian Games we did well and I’m very proud of the boys. This will give a lot of people (in Afghanistan) hope.”

India won the toss and chose to field. Pacemen Shivam Dube and Arshdeep Singh removed openers Zubaid Akbari and Mohammad Shahzad inside the first three overs.

The needless run-out of Noor Ali Zadran, going for a tight second run in the next over, compounded their problems after Ravi Bishnoi’s accurate throw.

A gritty unbeaten from Shahidullah 49 and his 60-run partnership and Naib (27 not out) ensured Afghanistan passed 100.

In the bronze medal match, Bangladesh stunned Pakistan when Rakibul Hasan smashed a boundary off the final ball to spark wild celebrations at the end of a rain-affected 48-1 off five overs, with Bangladesh set a revised target of 65 under the DLS (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern) method.

The Asian Games 2023 cricket tournament witnessed some one-sided affairs, none more so than Nepal men’s thrashing of minnows Mongolia.

Their 314-3 beat the previous highest international score in the format of 278-3.

Nepal broke several other Twenty20 international records including the fastest century, by Kushal Malla off 34 balls, and the fastest 50, by Dipendra Singh Airee off nine balls).

READ: South Africa run riot against Sri Lanka to register highest World Cup total

Kohli ends century drought as India thrash Afghanistan in Asia Cup

DUBAI: India’s veteran batter Virat Kohli broke the shackles as he brought up his much-awaited 71st century in the Asia Cup Super Four dead rubber against Afghanistan before right-arm pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar decimated the Afghan batting line-up and powered the side to a massive 101-run victory.

Set to chase a mammoth 213, Afghanistan’s batting line-up failed completely and could only score 111/8 in the allotted 20 overs despite Ibrahim Zadran top-scoring with a gritty knock of 64 runs off 59 balls including four boundaries and two sixes.

Besides Ibrahim, only Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman get into the double figures in the run chase while the rest of the batters failed in their last match of Asia Cup 2022.

Bhuvneshwar was the pick of the bowlers for India as he bagged five wickets for a mere four runs, while Arshdeep Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Deepak Hooda made one scalp each.

At the toss, Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi invited India to bat first after the coin flipped in his favour.

His decision, however, did not seem to go well for his side as India’s new opening pair of Kohli and interim captain KL Rahul targeted the Afghan bowlers and scored at a blistering rate.

The duo appeared solid and were looking firm as both have amassed half-centuries before Fareed Ahmad struck in the 13th over to hand Afghanistan a much-needed breakthrough as he removed Rahul for 62.

The right-handed batter faced 41 deliveries and smashed eight boundaries including two sixes.

India’s top batter Suryakumar Yadav had a forgetful outing with the bat as he could score six runs off two deliveries and caused India to slip to 125/2 in 13 overs.

Following the slump, Kohli shifted the momentum into India’s favour as he joined hands with wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant and put on an unbeaten 87-run partnership for the third wicket.

The partnership remained majorly dominated by the right-handed batter as Pant could contribute 20.

Kohli, on the other hand, scored for India with a quickfire 122 off 61 deliveries, laced with 12 boundaries and six sixes.

The right-handed batter ended his century drought with his first in the shortest format of the game and 71st overall.

Fareed remained the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan as he bagged the only two wickets, while the rest of the bowlers went wicketless.

READ:

T20 World Cup: India register convincing 66-run win against Afghanistan

India secured a much needed 66-run victory against Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup Group 2 match in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Mohammad Nabi’s side, chasing a huge target of 211, managed 144-7 on the scoreboard in their 20 overs.

Karim Janat played an unbeaten knock of 42 from 22 deliveries with the help of three boundaries and two sixes whereas the skipper hit two fours and a six on his way to 32-ball 35.

Pacer Mohammad Shami was the pick of the bowlers with his three-wicket haul whereas Ravichandran Ashwin got two wickets.

Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja both got a wicket as well.

India, being asked to bat first, finished at 210-2 thanks to superb half-centuries by openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. They put on an opening partnership of 140 runs.

Sharma, who was judged player of the match, top-scored with 74 from 47 deliveries with eight fours and three sixes to his name.

Rahul made 48-ball 69 after hitting six boundaries and two maximums.

Gulbadin Naib and Karim Janat bagged a wicket each.

SQUADS

India: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Rishabh Pant, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 R Ashwin, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Afghanistan: 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 3 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 4 Najibullah Zadran, 5 Mohammad Nabi (capt.), 6 Sharafuddin Ashraf, 7 Gulbadin Naib, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Karim Janat, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Hamid Hass