A packed Holkar Stadium waited patiently for fireworks from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, but on Sunday evening, Yashasvi Jaiswal (68, 34b, 5x4, 6x6) and Shivam Dube (63 n.o., 32b, 5x4, 4x6) once again lived up to their big-hitting reputations and guided India to a convincing six-wicket win against Afghanistan in the second T20I.
After missing out on the series opener due to a sore right groin, Jaiswal replaced Shubman Gill in the final eleven and justified his selection with two crucial partnerships with Kohli (57 for the second wicket) and Shivam Dube (92 for the third wicket) to help India take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
IND vs AFG - 2nd T20I HIGHLIGHTS - AS IT HAPPENED
With Afghanistan including left-arm wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad along with seasoned campaigner Mujeeb ur Rahman, chasing 173 could have been tricky, but on an outright batting surface, Jaiswal and Dube made it look so easy. Making most of an early reprieve, Jaiswal spared none of the Afghanistan bowlers, and after captain Rohit fell for yet another duck, the Mumbai-based batter partnered Kohli, who returned to India’s T20I fold after 430 days, to launch a fightback.
As the crowd chanted his name, Kohli started off with a lofted drive, followed by a slog sweep. En route to his 16-ball-29, Kohli continued his on-field rivalry with Naveen-ul-Haq with a couple of boundaries before the latter cut short his innings. Kohli did not get the elevation off a Naveen’s full delivery and failed to clear the mid-off and walked back.
Coming on the back of a match-winning knock in the previous game, Dube took things in his stride and together with Jaiswal guided India to 69 for 2 in the powerplay. After taking seven deliveries to settle in, Dube got into the rhythm and hammered three huge sixes in the 10th over by Mohammad Nabi. By the time Karim Janat removed Jaiswal and followed it up with a cheap dismissal of Jitesh Sharma, India was quite close to the target, and Dube sealed the deal.
Afghanistan, however, would be disappointed with its bowlers as they failed to put up a fight despite the team scoring its highest T20I score against India. Inserted to bat, it was an innings of ebbs and flows for Afghanistan. Rahmanullah Gurbaz started aggressively before Ravi Bishnoi earned the breakthrough. However, No.3 Gulbadin Naib took charge with a powerful innings of 57, which included five fours and four sixes, but once Axar Patel (2 for 17) got him out, the middle-order struggled to get going.
Even though Janat and Mujeeb combined added 41 runs towards the end, Arshdeep Singh proved his death overs credentials by claiming three wickets for 32 after going wicket-less in the first spell. And that made the difference.
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