In the first Twenty20 International match in Mohali on Thursday, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team trounced Afghanistan by six wickets, with Shivam Dube emerging as the team’s standout player. Dube bowled two overs at a cost of just nine runs, dismissing Ibrahim Zadran after he hammered an unbeaten sixty off just forty balls. Dube’s all-around performance made him the fourth Indian cricket player in history to both score and take a wicket in a Twenty20 International match. The last person to accomplish the feat was all-rounder Hardik Pandya, but Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli have both done it twice.
India’s benchwarmers, captained by Shivam Dube, capitalised on the chance to set up a six-wicket victory against Afghanistan.
India controlled the powerplay, but a dynamic 68-run combination off 43 balls between young Azmatullah Omarzai (29 off 22) and experienced Mohammad Nabi (42 off 27) propelled Afghanistan to 158 for five.
In favourable batting conditions, the stated score was insufficient, as India easily reached home in 17.3 overs.
After losing the opening wickets in four overs, Dube, playing his first Twenty20 since the Asian Games, and Tilak Varma (26 off 22) put on a 44-run partnership off 29 balls to give the Indian innings impetus.
After 14 months away from T20 cricket, Rohit Sharma (0) and Shubman Gill (23) got into a preventable misunderstanding that ended up limiting the Indian captain’s stay to only two balls. This time, Rohit, who is always cool and collected, showed his frustration when Gill ignored his request for a fast single.
Gill was unable to remain for very long, but Varma and Dube managed to move the innings forward, and India never looked back after that.
As a backup to the injury-prone Hardik Pandya, Dube made effective use of his long levers, and his contemptuous drives on the off side were particularly noticeable. Finishing the game with a perfect six and four in the fine leg region.
Jitesh Sharma (31 off 20) also gave a good account of himself before Rinku Singh (16 not out off 9) joined Dube in the middle and took the team home.
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