Rohit Sharma’s brilliance propels India to a dominating win over Afghanistan

Team India extended their sizzling run of form to another glistening chapter as the Men in Blue steamrolled Afghanistan in their second fixture of the ICC World Cup 2023. Winning the toss, Afghanistan opted to bat and their openers did get off to a decent start.

Jasprit Bumrah made the first inroad for India as he claimed Ibrahim Zadran's wicket for 22. Rahamnullah Gurbaz (21) was the next to fall as Hardik Pandya got the better of the hard-hitting opener. Rahmat Shah couldn’t chip in with much resistance either as he got out for 16, allowing India to sniff total domination against the middle-order.

However, Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and another experienced campaigner, Azmatullah Omarzai, came together for a remarkable 121-run partnership for the fourth wicket that somewhat intensified the frown on the faces of the Indian bowlers. It was Hardik who managed to produce the all-important breakthrough for India as he sneaked through the defences of Omarzai (62).

Despite Shahidi continuing the resilience, the remaining Afghan batters couldn’t really forge something glorious enough to try and get that additional edge for the visitors. By the time Kuldeep Yadav removed the Afghan captain, they already managed 225, following which Bumrah came to the fore, running through the tail with his extraordinary bowling. The ace pacer claimed the scalps of Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran and Rashid Khan. He was the pick of the Indian bowling lot as he chronicled his best bowling figures in the World Cup, registering numbers of 10-0-39-4.

Chasing 273, India were off to an absolute flier and the Afghan bowlers were overwhelmed by the belligerence inflicted upon them, courtesy of the Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma. Rohit and Ishan Kishan (47) chose to dictate proceedings and make a strong statement to the world ahead of their clash against their arch-rivals, Pakistan.

Records kept on tumbling like a pack of cards caught in the eye of the storm as Rohit dominated the powerplay single-handedly. Such was his dominion that by the time India reached 100 in just the 12th over, Rohit had already scored 79 runs.

He brought up his 53rd half-century in ODIs with a hit over mid-on against Naveen-ul-Haq, a milestone that came in just 30 balls. His century came on the 63rd delivery that he faced as he eased a length ball from Nabi on the leg-side to steal away a single.

Once the captain departed for 131 after he missed a ball on trying to sweep it as the stumps were pegged back, from thereon, it was a Virat Kohli show. 

However, that was the last laugh for Afghanistan as Shreyas Iyer and Virat got the Indian team across the line without breaking a sweat. Virat stayed unbeaten for 55 while Shreyas remained unbeaten for 25. India chased down 273 with 15 overs to spare and quite expectedly, for running away with the game in the first 10 overs itself, Rohit was awarded the Player of the Match.