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In the last three overs, Afghanistan lost five wickets but managed to add In the second T20I of the three-T20I series, Afghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran dropped Rahmat Shah and promoted Gulbadin Naib to no.3 spot. The move worked wonders for the visiting team at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore. Naib became the third Afghan batter in the history of T20I clashes between the two nations to score a half-century.
Naib joined Ibrahim and Noor Ali Zadran on the list. The first Afghan to achieve this feat was Noor Ali who scored 50 runs from 48 balls in a 2010 T20 World Cup encounter. 12 years later, Ibrahim scored an unbeaten 64 against India in Dubai in T20 Asia Cup 2022.
Gulbadin walked in to bat at no.3 after Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first. Ravi Bishnoi dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz who scored 14 runs from nine balls. In the next over, Naib scored two consecutive fours off Mukesh Kumar. Against Bishnoi, he made use of the fielding restrictions and hit the first six of his innings. He followed it up with two fours.
After skipper Ibrahim fell to Axar Patel, Gulbadin finished the powerplay overs with a four. The wicket of Azmatullah Omarzai in Shivam Dube's over did not slow him down either. He hit Dube for two sixes in the ninth over. He reached his half-century from 28 balls before the halfway stage. This is the fastest half-century for Afghanistan against India in the format.
He continued the six-hitting spree against Washington Sundar as well. He had a chance to register the highest individual score for Afghanistan against India but lost the wicket to Patel. He scored 57 runs from 35 balls including five fours and four sixes. Also, the four sixes he hit are the most by an Afghan batter in an innings against India.
After Naib's wicket, contributions from Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman helped Afghanistan post 172 on the board.
This was Naib’s second T20I half-century. His previous fifty in the format on the international stage came in 2015 against Zimbabwe. He scored an unbeaten 56 off 31 balls.
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