Batting heavyweight India overpower spirited Afghanistan

Match 9: India vs Afghanistan - Review 

October 11, 2023: Edge of the Seat Entertainment – the phrase can simply be replaced with one name – Rohit Sharma. There is a sense of excitement and fear when he is batting. He has a cruel play with the bowlers, which at times, he wins, at times he loses. He does not shut the door like Steven Smith or Virat Kohli instead he keeps the door ajar, and plays that little game of catch me if you can with the bowlers.

The DDCA Arun Jaitley Stadium turned up to see the son of the Soil Jersey Number 18 today, but Jersey number 45, made sure it was his day. Rohit Gurunadh Sharma today showed that when the opportunity against minnows arrives, to keep the Net Run Rate out of the equation, one should pulverize the bowling attack.

Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan left the demons of the previous innings beside them and started their innings with assured composure. Chasing a hugely not enough tricky target of 271, Rohit Sharma looked in a hurry. The ball flew in all directions with a touch of class. Such was his domination of the bowling, that by the time India reached 100 in the 11th over, Ishan Kishan was at 14. And when he fell at 131, India was in a near-impossible to lose position. Virat Kohli joined Rohit Sharma with a masterful 55. With 28 Boundaries and 8 maximums, Indians made short work of the target, reaching it in 35 overs and 8 wickets in hand.

Earlier in the day, Skipper Hashmatullah and Azmat Omarzai stitched a potent partnership, which at one point, threatened to breach the 300 mark easily. Hashmatullah and Azmat played with extreme maturity and attacking rigour. Indian bowlers were not short of ideas, but such was the batting display of the two batters, that they motored along smoothly.

Bumrah had his day at the office well organized as he did what he does best, taking four wickets with an economy rate touch below 4. For some inexplicable reason, Shardul Thakur was picked ahead of Ashwin. Shardul is past his pay-by date and is quickly becoming a spent force, but for his most innocuous deliveries that keep getting him wickets. Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep pegged the score back with disciplined bowling.

The fall of Azmat slowed down the scoring a bit, but the arrival of Rashid Khan gave the momentum required by taking the attack to Siraj in particular. The tail wagged and wagged well to improve the predicted score by 15 runs more. However, Afghanistan was 30 runs short of a comfortable score.

Afghanistan batted well but inexperience lower down the order and inability to pace the innings hurt them the most. It takes a lot of courage to stand up and work around your weaknesses. Afghanistan is currently doing the best it can, and they are winning hearts and making friends among the fraternity.

- Sairam, Team Pure Cricket