India secured a commanding win over Afghanistan in the first ODI of the three-game ODI series on Saturday, June 13 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala. While chasing 195 runs in a 25 over-per-side game, India displayed a fantastic batting performance to seal the match by seven wickets.
Big feat for Rohit Sharma
In the second innings, former India skipper Rohit Sharma created history during his short stay at the crease, as he became the first cricketer to amass 16,000 international runs as an opener for India. The star right-handed opener required six runs in the first game to complete the feat and managed to achieve it by scoring a six off Azmatullah Omarzai in the third over.
However, Rohit couldn't manage to score big after getting a decent start, as he got run-out after a lack of communication with India skipper Shubman Gill on just 16 of 16 runs. Now, Rohit has 16,010 runs in 359 games as an opener for India.
Before Rohit, it was Virender Sehwag who scored 15,758 runs in 321 matches as India's opener, while Sachin Tendulkar amassed 15,335 runs as India's opener.
Most runs for India as an opener:
| Player | Matches | Innings | Runs |
| Rohit Sharma | 359 | 384 | 16,010 |
| Virender Sehwag | 321 | 388 | 15,758 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 346 | 382 | 15,335 |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 202 | 286 | 12,258 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 268 | 288 | 10,867 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 243 | 237 | 9,157 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 187 | 228 | 8,148 |
| KL Rahul | 136 | 178 | 6,440 |
| Krishnamachari Srikkanth | 189 | 217 | 6,153 |
| Navjot Singh Sidhu | 108 | 132 | 5,329 |
India's brilliant batting performance
Coming back to India's chase, after Rohit Sharma's wicket Shubman Gill carried the chase with his stellar batting performance, as he stretched a solid partnership with Ishan Kishan (34 off 22), who came to bat at No.3 seemed very comfortable before losing his wicket off Rashid Khan's bowling.
India's vice-captain Shreyas Iyer was expected to stay unbeaten in but failed to impress the spectators with his performance, as he got out on 12 runs off Ziaur Rahman's delivery. However, KL Rahul played a quick fire knock of 39 off 19 deliveries with the help of four boundaries and three sixes.
India skipper Shubman won the Player of the Match award for his stellar unbeaten knock of 84 runs off 66 balls, smashing 11 boundaries and two sixes. Now, India will face Afghanistan in the second ODI on June 17 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.