Shubman Gill and KL Rahul’s storm in Dharamsala, Team India defeated Afghanistan badly.
In the first ODI match between India and Afghanistan played in Dharamshala, the Indian team performed brilliantly and won by seven wickets. While captain Shubman Gill performed brilliantly with the bat in this rain-affected match, KL Rahul’s aggressive batting and a beautiful six surprised the audience as well as Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir.
During the match, a scene was seen which made a lot of headlines on social media also. Chasing the target, in the 22nd over of the Indian innings, KL Rahul hit a brilliant six over the extra cover area off the ball of Zia ur Rehman Sharifi. This shot of Rahul was so attractive that the reaction of Gautam Gambhir sitting in the Indian dugout was captured on camera. Surprise was clearly visible on his face and he appeared completely lost in that shot for a few moments.
Let us tell you that Rahul had hit this six on the last ball of the over. The ball was outside the off stump and Rahul went ahead and played it beautifully. The ball reached straight outside the boundary line. India scored a total of 20 runs in this over and almost won the match. After this, Rahul gave victory to India by hitting a four in just a few balls.
It is noteworthy that due to rain the match was reduced to 25-25 overs. India had a target of 195 runs to win. The Indian team did not have a good start and Rohit Sharma was run out and returned to the pavilion. However, after this captain Shubhman Gill and Ishan Kishan took over the innings.
Ishan Kishan, returning to this format after a long time, played a useful inning of 34 runs. However, Afghanistan’s star spinner Rashid Khan dismissed him with his special ball. After this KL Rahul Came to bat and along with captain Gill, he took the team to the target.
According to available information, Shubman Gill scored unbeaten 84 runs in 66 balls. He played captaincy innings while maintaining his excellent rhythm. On the other hand, KL Rahul scored unbeaten 39 runs in just 19 balls and ended the match by scoring runs quickly. There was an unbroken partnership between the two batsmen, which completely ended Afghanistan’s hopes of a comeback.
Earlier, despite a bad start, Afghanistan scored a respectable score. At one time the team had lost three wickets for 26 runs, but Rahmanullah Gurbaz single-handedly handled the innings. He played an explosive inning of 102 runs in just 51 balls. His innings included 8 fours and 8 sixes. Gurbaz’s batting kept the Indian bowlers under pressure for a long time.
However, the Indian bowlers made a brilliant comeback in the final stages. Debutants Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey took three wickets each in their first international match. Gurnoor displayed excellent pace and swing with the new ball, while Harsh Dubey returned after an expensive early over and provided crucial breakthroughs. Nitish Kumar Reddy also contributed to the team’s victory by taking two wickets.
The entire Afghanistan team was reduced to 194 runs in 24.5 overs. India achieved the target in 22.5 overs and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. This victory in the first match has boosted the confidence of the Indian team and now its eyes are set on winning the series.
