In a game where Virat Kohli was unavailable, captain Rohit Sharma was run out on the second ball of the innings and local favorite Shubman Gill went back to the dressing room inside four overs, with Shivam Dubey (40 balls 60*) and Jitesh Sharma ( 31 off 20) came up to help India chase down the target of 159 runs in 17.3 overs in the first T20I at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Thursday. India’s six-wicket win in bitter cold helped them take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Afghanistan, known for their quality spin bowlers, worked hard to defend the total but could not stop the Indian batsmen from achieving the target easily. India got off to a disappointing start with a mix-up between Sharma and Gill in the very first over of the run chase. Off Fazalhaq Faruqui, Rohit hit the ball at mid-off and ran to the non-striker’s end, but Gill was looking at the ball and not responding to the captain’s call. An angry Rohit expressed his disappointment before going back to the dressing room.
Gill hit five fours but could not last long to rectify his mistake. In the fourth over, he was stumped by Rahmanullah Gurbaz on the ball of Mujeeb ur Rahman. At this time, Afghanistan’s grip looked strong, but Dubey and Tilak Verma did not allow the opposition bowlers to dominate during a quick partnership of 44 runs for the third wicket.
Dubey’s first big shot came in the seventh over against off-spinner Mohammad Nabi, slog-sweeping a ball that arced past the deep midwicket boundary. In the same over, Tilak charged down the track to the right of long off for an inside-out drive for four runs. The momentum was clearly in India’s favor with Naveen-ul-Haq scoring 14 runs in the next over.
Gulbadin Naib sent back Tilak with a brilliant catch and reduced India’s score to 72/3. In came Jitesh Sharma, who looked in complete control along with Dubey to take India to the brink of victory. With Sanju Samson on the bench and uncertainty over Ishan Kishan’s status in the team, this was an ideal opportunity for Jitesh to make an impact.
He made it worthwhile by scoring 31 runs in 20 balls, which took the pressure off Dubey during the 45-run partnership for the fourth wicket. After star spinner Rashid Khan was ruled out of the series, Mujeeb was the choice of bowlers for Afghanistan. After dismissing Gill in the beginning, Mujeeb made a comeback and defeated Jitesh also. In his four overs, he took two wickets while giving just 21 runs and bowling one maiden over.
However, Dubey made sure he stayed till the end and scored his second half-century in T20Is to give India a comfortable win. His innings included five fours and two sixes. Rinku Singh also made a useful contribution in the end and remained unbeaten on 16 runs in nine balls.
Before this, Rohit won the toss and chose bowling. Afghanistan got off to a slow start with the bat and with openers Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran back in the dugout, the score read 50/2 in 8.2 overs. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel was India’s most successful bowler, taking two wickets for 23 runs in four overs. This was an important match for Axar after being dropped from the T20 series in South Africa. While Akshar bowled Gurbaz, Dubey dismissed Zadran.
If Afghanistan still managed to score 158 runs, they would have to thank Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai. Omarzai, who was sold for He, who bought Gujarat Titans Rs 50 lakh in last month’s IPL auction, contributed 29 runs in 22 balls at the No. 3 position, while Nabi used all his experience to score 42 runs in 27 balls.
“A lot of positives, especially with the ball. The conditions were not easy but our spinners bowled particularly well. The way Shivam Dubey, Jitesh batted, Tilak also and obviously Rinku too. Want to try some things in the next game. Want the bowlers to do different things. Like how Washi bowled the 19th ball today. “Keeping those things in mind, we will try to do different things,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation. The second T20 match will be played in Indore on Sunday.
