Skipper Shubman Gill led from the front with a masterful, unbeaten 84 to anchor India’s comfortable seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in a rain-truncated first ODI on June 13. In a contest that was reduced to 25 overs per side, the Men in Blue chased down the target with ease, reaching 195/3 in 22.5 overs to successfully overhaul Afghanistan’s total of 194.
India thrash Afghanistan by 7 wickets in 1st ODI
Shubman Gill continued his incredible run of form across all three formats, anchoring the chase with a sublime, unbeaten 84 off 66 balls to guide India home comfortably in 22.5 overs. He found an aggressive partner in KL Rahul, who played a perfect situational cameo by smashing an unbeaten 39 off just 19 deliveries. Rahul's brisk innings was highlighted by a technically brilliant, classy six over extra cover off the bowling of Zia Ur Rahman.
Shubman Gill's special on full display
The chase was not entirely without drama, as Gill's opening partner Rohit Sharma was run out for 16 after Gill rightfully turned down a call for a risky single in the sixth over. Though all eyes were on Rohit's form and fitness, the veteran opener showed glimpses of his vintage self during his brief stay, executing a gorgeous drive on the up and unleashing his trademark pull shot for a maximum.
Following Rohit's dismissal, Ishan Kishan walked in at number three for his highly anticipated ODI comeback. The dynamic left-hander looked in excellent touch, compiling a brisk 34 off 22 balls and keeping the scoreboard ticking before his promising stay was cut short by a deceptive googly from maestro Rashid Khan.
Gill, however, remained completely unfazed and collected the majority of his majestic boundaries against Afghanistan's vaunted spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and AM Ghazanfar. Having started his innings with a soothing, textbook cover drive off pacer Zia Ur Rahman, the Indian skipper later took his Gujarat Titans teammate Rashid Khan to the cleaners, with a spectacular, lofted six over deep mid-wicket standing out as the shot of the match.
Gurnoor-Harsh's perfect debut, Gurbaz's ton in vain
Earlier in the day, Gurbaz walked out to bat in the rain-shortened fixture with absolute clarity in his approach, a mindset he credited to the valuable technical tips he received from Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir following the one-off Test in Mullanpur. Even though the ball was nipping around in the air early on, the explosive Afghanistan opener launched an immediate counter-attack. He opened his account by cutting Arshdeep Singh for a boundary before boldly stepping down the track to dispatch the left-arm quick over his head for a massive six.
At the other end, India's towering 6-foot-5-inch debutant Gurnoor Brar made an instant impression. Having served as a net bowler with the national setup for a prolonged period before receiving his maiden ODI cap from skipper Shubman Gill, the Punjab speedster consistently clocked over 145 kmph in his opening over. After getting his first two deliveries to shape away sharply from a full length, Brar intelligently pulled his length back on the third ball, forcing an error from Ibrahim Zadran who mistimed a lofted shot straight to mid-off to give the debutant his first international wicket.
The Indian bowling attack continued to chip away, quickly reducing Afghanistan to 16 for two when Arshdeep trapped Sediqullah Atal right in front of the stumps with a straight delivery. The visitors' troubles compounded shortly after when Rahmat Shah top-edged a pull shot off Arshdeep, allowing another debutant, Harsh Dubey, to take a brilliant running catch backwards from mid-wicket and leave Afghanistan reeling at 26 for three. Amidst the chaos, Gurbaz survived a massive scare on 14 when India opted against reviewing a close leg-before-wicket appeal that would have gone in their favor.
Capitalizing on that solitary slice of luck, Gurbaz went on to play a sensational innings, bringing up his ninth ODI century decorated with eight boundaries and eight towering sixes. He routinely put the bowling attack under pressure, taking a special liking to left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey by plundering 26 runs off his opening two overs, which included punishing two short balls over the mid-wicket boundary. The opener showed no respect to the rest of the attack either, pulling Brar for a maximum and taking apart both Prasidh Krishna and Washington Sundar with total disdain, while only Nitish Kumar Reddy managed to bowl a disciplined spell.
However, Gurbaz’s blistering knock finally came to an end in the 16th over, and his dismissal completely halted Afghanistan's scoring rate as the lower order failed to capitalize on the explosive platform. This allowed Harsh Dubey to bounce back brilliantly in his second spell, finding his rhythm to pick up three crucial wickets, including the settled Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi, the dangerous Azmatullah Omarzai, and tail-ender AM Ghazanfar, safely restricting the visitors well below a par score.
Meanwhile, the second ODI between India and Afghanistan will be played on June 17 in Lucknow.