IND vs AFG, 1st T20I highlights: Shivam Dube, bowlers guide India to six wicket win over Afghanistan

Overpitch by Naveen and Dube lofts it straight for a SIX! Great shot. Not many sixes hit today but this was the best of the lot tonight. Dube finishes the match with a four! Bouncer and he hits it over fine leg. He remains 60 not out. India gets a 1-0 lead. 

Omarzai for his last over. Rinku gets a bit of width on offer, and he guides the ball past short third for four. Flicks for a single and Dube reaches his half century in 38 balls. 

Naveen bowls another half-tracker and Dube smacks him towards midwicket for four! Super shot. India well in control of the chase here. Nine runs from the over. 

Farooqi gives too much width to Dube and he hits it past mid off for four! 10 runs off the over. 

Mujeeb is back for his last over. Jitesh sweeps past fine leg for four. OUT! He tries to go over long on but ends up giving a catch to the fielder in the deep. Mujeeb has been splendid today. 

Rinku Singh gets going on the first ball. On the pads and flicks it fine for four. Misfield by the fine leg fielder. 

Length ball on the hips by Omarzai and Jitesh tucks it towards square leg for four. Not the best of efforts by the fielder there. Now a full ball on the leg side and Jitesh hits it in the air and gets a double. 

Gulbadin Naib into the attack. Begins with a slow ball, Dube was waiting and then drives it past mid-off for four to start the over. Length ball, too much width and Jitesh slaps it towards covers for four. Slow ball, Jitesh slogs it towards covers, the fielder in the deep misjudges and runs past the ball. Good thing he turned quick and saved the four. 

Omarzai continues. Surely not an easy run chase for India. Jitesh comes down the track and smacks the ball over points to end the over with a four. 

Naveen continues. Jitesh Sharma, the new batter, gets a bouncer and he pulls it fine over keeper to get a boundary! Nine runs off the over. 

Omarzai into the attack and Tilak welcomes him also with a boundary. Short ball and Tilak cuts it past point for four. OUT! But Omarzai has the last laugh. Tilak is caught at the square leg boundary. He went for a slog but ends up hitting it straight to fielder. Nice catch by Gulbadin too. Had to stretch and balanced himself well. 

Tilak Varma c Gulbadin b Azmatullah 26(22)

Naveen Ul Haq is welcomed into the attack with a SIX by Tilak. Back of the length and he scoops it over the square leg boundary. Great shot that. And another short ball and this time Dube guides it past fine leg for another boundary. 

Slot ball by Nabi, Dube gets on his knees and slog sweeps the ball into the stands. A SIX! Tilak hasn’t been able to make an impact so far. He’s 9 off 15. He finally hits his first boundary, an inside out over covers for four to end the over. 

Mujeeb has been bowling splendidly. Five dot balls. A maiden to end the PowerPlay. Outstanding over by Mujeeb. Right on the money and Shivam Dube isn’t able to pierce the off side field. 

Mohammad Nabi is into the attack. An off-spinner against two left handers inside the PowerPlay. Two singles in first three balls. Ball is stopping a bit. An overthrow and India gets five runs off overthrow on the last ball.

Mujeeb continues. Beautiful off drive by Gill. He’s in the mood. Glorious boundary. And now comes down the track and smacks it over mid off for another boundary. OUT! Gill is stumped. Once charges, tries to go for a slog, misses the ball and keeper does well to collect the ball. 

Shubman Gill st Gurbaz b Mujeeb 23(12)

Shivam Dube comes in at number four. 

Farooqi continues. Left-armer and very quick through the air. Farooqi comes around the wicket to Gill, a back of the length delivery and he takes out his short-arm jab that goes for four. And another four. This time he comes down the track, makes room, and hits it past covers for four. 11 runs off the over. 

Mujeeb Ur Rahman to bowl the second over. A quick off-spinner and he’s getting the ball to move in the air. A quiet over. Just three singles from the over. 

Fazalhaq Farooqi to start the proceeedings. OUT! ROHIT SHARMA IS RUNOUT. Massive miscommunication between him and Shubman. Rohit hit it straight towards mid-off and Rohit called for a run. Gill was watching the ball and didn’t respond to the call. Both Rohit and Shubman ended up at the non-strikers’ end. 

Rohit Sharma run out (Ibrahim Zadran/Gurbaz) 0(2)

Tilak Varma is the new man in. Gill ends the over with a boundary, coming down the track and hitting it past mid-off fielder. A gentle push. 

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill come out to open the innings. Afghanistan team in a huddle. India needs 159 runs to win. 

Arshdeep to bowl the final over. FOUR! Full toss outside leg-stump and Najibullah flicks it behind square-leg for a boundary. AFG 147/5, which is now their best score against India in T20Is. Hacked away to deep square-leg for a single by Najibullah. Janat makes a big move across his stumps wanting to scoop it on leg-side but misses. Full toss wide outside off and called wide. Drilled by Janat to long-off for a single. That’s 150 up for Afghanistan in 19.4 overs. FOUR! Short and Najibullah slashes it high in the air. Tilak tries to get to it running towards the boundary but ends up parrying it over the rope for four runs. FOUR! Another boundary to end the over as Najibullah ends up flicking this good yorker to the square-leg boundary. 

Washington bowls his third and last over. Najibullah hammers this down the ground for a boundary as the off-spinner goes short. A single for Najibullah at long-off. Karim Janat goes for a slog sweep first ball that he faces but misses it completely. FOUR! He flicks the next one off his pads for a boundary behind deep square-leg. FOUR! Angling outside off and Janat carves it through cover for another boundary. 

Mukesh bowls out. OUT! Omarzai chops on first ball of the over trying to reach this delivery pitched wide outside off-stump. Mukesh pitches on short to Najibullah but it goes too high over the batter and called wide. He then comes around the wicket and goes short again and this is called no-ball as it is the second bouncer of the over. OUT! Nabi departs for 42 and that’s two wickets in the over for Mukesh. He reaches out for the wide yorker and ends up carving the ball to the deep backward point fielder. 

Azmatullah Omarzai b Mukesh Kumar 29 (22b 2x4 1x6)

Mohammad Nabi c Rinku Singh b Mukesh 42 (27b 2x4 3x6)

Arshdeep is back. Angles it away outside off and Nabi misses looking to slash it. He flicks the next one to wide long-on for a single. Slower one and short and Omarzai misses it. Good yorker and just a single for Omarzai at long-on. Angling away too far outside off-stump and called wide by the umpire. Tucked off his legs by Nabi for one. Another yorker and whipped through the leg-side by Omarzai for a single. 

Mukesh Kumar is back into the attack for his third over. Nabi gets an under edge and almost chops onto his stumps. Flicked off his toes by Omarzai for one more and that’s the 50-run partnership off 32 balls between him and Nabi. SIX! Shprt and wide and Nabi slaps this over extra-cover for a maximum. SIX! Short again and Nabi pulls this over deep square-leg for back-to-back maximums. Full toss and Nabi mistimes this to the mid-off fielder and misses out on another scoring opportunity. Full and guided by Nabi to short-third for a single and he will retain strike. 

Bishnoi. SIX! Turning into him and Omarzai gets low to slog sweep this over wide long-on for a maximum. Hoicked to long-on for one more next ball. FOUR! Nabi backs away outside leg-stump and pumps this pitched-up delivery in the gap at deep midwicket. Hundred runs up for the Afghans in 14.3 overs. FOUR! This is slashed away and beats point to run away for a second consecutive boundary. Beaten! Good length on the stumps and Nabi misses trying to guide this on off-side. A single at short third-man to end the over. 

Axar bowls out with figures of two for 23 from his four overs. Keeps his last over tight, giving away just six runs by keeping it stump to stump. 

Bishnoi again. A couple for Omarzai as he heaves the ball to long-on. SIX! Nabi hammers this down the ground and over long-on for a maximum to make it 11 runs from the over. 

Dube is back. Nabi pushes the second ball of the over to long-on for one. DROPPED! Rohit leaps and spills a tough chance at cover, giving Omarzai a reprieve on 10. Slower one and short and pulled along the ground by Nabi for a single. FOUR! Sweetly timed drive through the cover region by Omarzai and that will be a boundary to end the over. 

Here comes Ravi Bishnoi. Omarzai starts off with a single through cover-point. Full toss and Nabi pushes it to long-off for a single. FOUR! Full outside off and drilled through cover by Omarzai for his first boundary. Pushed to deep extra-cover now for a single by Omarzai. Nabi punches this back to Bishnoi. Flicked off his pads for a single at long-on by Nabi. 

Axar into his third over. Omarzai and Rahmat just push the ball around for four singles. OUT! Rahmat is gone off the last ball of the over. He wants to slash through the off-side after making some room but gets an under edge onto his stumps. 

Shivam Dube into the attack. Beats Ibrahim first ball with a jaffa outside off. OUT! Gone next ball. Dube makes up for that early dropped catch in the third over by nabbing Ibrahim with just his second ball. The batter slashes this straight to the cover fielder. Debutant Rahmat Shah is off the mark with a single. 

Ibrahim Zadran c Rohit Sharma b Dube 25 (22b 2x4 1x6)

Axar again. Gurbaz defends the first ball of the over solidly back to the bowler. He then goes for a reverse-scoop/sweep next ball and misses. Pushed to cover for a third consecutive dot ball. SIX! And he breaks the shackles with a brilliant maximum over square-leg. OUT! Axar has the last laugh as Gurbaz is stumped! 

Rahmanullah Gurbaz st Jitesh Sharma b Axar Patel 23 (28b 2x4 1x6)

Washington to continue. He keeps it quick and slightly short and just three singles off the first three balls of the over. SIX! This is full and sliding down leg-side and Ibrahim flicks it with ease for deep square-leg for a maximum, the first of the match. Turned away off his hips by Ibrahim for a couple more at deep square to end the over. 

Mukesh to bowl the last over of the PowerPlay. A couple of singles and a dot to begin the over. Ibrahim lobs this high in the air as he gets a top edge looking to hoick the ball on off-side. However, the ball lands safely in the cover region. FOUR! Positive end for AFG to the PP as Ibrahim ramps this short delivery to the boundary behind the keeper. 

Washington Sundar replaces Arshdeep Singh. Spin from both ends. Punched off the backfoot by Gurbaz to mid-on for a single. Driven through cover for one more by Ibrahim. Gurbaz goes for a slog sweep but only gets an inside edge onto his pad. He backs away outside leg-stump next ball and slashes it straight to cover. Loud lbw appeal but Rohit isn’t interested in reviewing this as it was sliding down leg-stump. Punched by Ibrahim to long-on for one more. Just four from it. 

Here comes Axar Patel. FOUR! Ibrahim makes room on the off-side and squeezes this between cover and point to find his first boundary. Swung across the line by Ibrahim for a couple more at deep midwicket. 

Swinging into the right-hander and away outside leg-stump for wide ball. FOUR! Short and the extra bounce on offer results in Gurbaz acing the ramp shot and finding the boundary in the third-man region. A quick single next ball as Gurbaz taps to short cover and runs. DROPPED! Dube spills a chance at mid-off. Ibrahim gets a reprive as Dube is too late to react. He moves sluggishly and puts in a late dive in front as the ball pops out of his hands. Two singles to end the over. 

Here is Mukesh Kumar from the other end. Punched by Ibrahim to point. Still no runs. Ibrahim pushes the ball off the inside half of the bat to mid-on and scampers for a single even as Bishnoi fumbles the ball. FOUR! Gurbaz swings his bat at this full delivery and finds the midwicket boundary. Wasn’t a very convincing hit but he found the gap. Short and this is pulled by Gurbaz to deep backward square-leg for a single. Back of a length and Mukesh beats Ibrahim’s inside edge as the batter goes for a punch. 

Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran are out to begin Afghanistan’s innings. Arshdeep Singh with the new ball. Here we go! A slip in place. A bit of a delay in start as Gurbaz isn’t happy with a blue light on the sightscreen. The light has been patched up with tape. Full and angling away outside off and Gurbaz leaves. Full and swinging into Gurbaz’s pads and he flicks it to midwicket for a dot ball. Angling away but closer to off-stump and Gurbaz pulls out of an attempted punch through cover. Full on off-stump now and Gurbaz defends it to cover. Short, Gurbaz makes room to flay in on leg-side but yet again pulls out of the shot. Yorker and flicked to midwicket. Maiden over. 

Time for national anthems: Afghanistan first, then India. 

As per BCCI release, Yashasvi Jaiswal was unavailable due to sore right groin. 

IND vs AFG: Jaiswal ruled out of 1st T20I due to sore right groin

Yashasvi Jaiswal missed the first T20 International between India and Afghanistan at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Thursday due to a sore right groin.

India - Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar

Afghanistan - Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Jannat, Najibullah Zadran, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen Ul Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Gulbadin Naib

Rohit Sharma and Imbrahim Zadran in the middle. 

India has won the toss and opted to bowl first. 

No Sanju Samson, Avesh Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI today. 

Not a lot there for the spinners. Conditions best for pacers and batters here. There was no dew yesterday and Nick Knight doesn’t expect dew today as well. 

Rahul Dravid confirmed yesterday that Rohit Sharma will be partnering up with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the opening slot. Who will be the other nine players today? 

Predicted XI

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson/ Jitesh Sharma (wk), Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar 

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (C), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Qais Ahmad, Noor Ahmad/Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

India has never lost a T20I match against Afghanistan so far. The two sides have met four times and India has won all of them. 

The last time India and Afghanistan met in T20Is was during the Asia Cup 2022. India defeated Afghanistan by 101 runs in Dubai. 

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran(c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Qais Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Karim Janat, Ikram Alikhil, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson(w), Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi

Read the preview here: 

India begins Afghanistan challenge with an eye on T20 World Cup

ndia’s three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, beginning at the IS Bindra Punjab Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday, offers a ray of hope for some aspirants to get into the groove ahead of the T20 World Cup in June.

The first T20I between India and Afghanistan will be telecast on the Sports18 network. The match can also be live streamed via the JioCinema app and website. 

Welcome to the live coverage of the 1st T20I between India and Afghanistan set to be played at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra stadium in Mohali. Stay tuned for the live updates.