It was an ideal day for Abhishek Sharma to make his comeback in the Indian T20I side. The left-hander delivered a jaw-dropping 82 off 32 deliveries in Delhi, making opening day against Afghanistan a hat trick out of the ordinary for the hosts.
His 50 deliveries had seven sixes, seven fours and more than that it was an important innings. The attack saw Abhishek achieve a career-high 6,000 runs from 3,420 deliveries in T20 cricket, the second-best record for a player in 3,420 deliveries.
The dimension of the chase, and not just the final margin, was indicative of India’s domination. India had needed only 13.4 overs to get past the target, as Afghanistan could only manage 156 for 8.
Ishan Kishan has been a significant support in the winning play. Two lefties combined for 121 and finally, Afghanistan broke the stand with little India had to do.
After another shot at the boundary that was backed to the corners, Abhishek was bowled out eight runs short and Kishan fell for 42. But by this time, the ratio was heavily in India’s favour and Shreyas Iyer & Tilak Varma finished the paperwork.
The last minute was critical for the Afghans, with one rescue play playing a crucial role in that game. Azmatullah Omarzai, who was the only batsman to avoid wicket in the innings, made 64 from 44 balls against wickets that were taken at frequent intervals, and who found themselves in the big trouble in the initial half of the evening’s play.
Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi were able to patch up some of the ravages before Afghanistan struck late. With Nabi out, Rashid Khan came in to the middle, but the Afghanistan captain was only able to take one before Arshdeep Singh got him out.
The visitors later crossed 150 thanks to an expensive final over where Omarzai scored two sixes and Mujeeb ur Rahman scored back-to-back boundaries. Though it was a significant turnaround from where Afghanistan was earlier, it is not enough to face the Indian batting.
India’s bowling attack had already set-up the situation for a reasonable target. Meanwhile, Arshdeep bagged three wickets, while Bumrah, Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy played their part in Afghanistan’s downfall.
Bumrah’s evening was very special. He started with five wides, but soon recovered to get rid of Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and then misled the Afghans as they tried to break for a higher score in the last over.
But the biggest thing to come away from the opener was the disparity between the two batting units. Afghanistan had to recover in the last over to even up the score and India had to add a few runs with explosive innings from Abhishek and a partnership with Kishan to blow the target away.
India consequently take an early lead in the series, while Afghanistan will have to find a way to prevent another batting collapse before they can hope to put pressure on the hosts.
