14 June,2026 05:17 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Sunil Gavaskar (Pic: File Pic)
In the rain-curtailed first ODI match against Afghanistan, Team India secured a dominating victory by seven wickets at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala.
Batting first, the visitors were bowled out for 194 runs in 24.5 overs. Afghanistan's wicketkeeper-batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz smashed 102 runs off just 51 deliveries, laced with eight boundaries and the same number of maximums.
Later in the second essay of the game, the "Men in Blue" chased the target in 22.5 overs by losing three wickets.
Following the victory, legendary Team India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar heaped praise on the "Men in Blue" by saying that they put the team first. He also said that the hosts made the run chase look "ridiculously simple".
"Before that over from Zia Ur Rahman, he had bowled three overs for just 19 runs. Then KL Rahul took 20 runs off that over. Up until that point, Shubman Gill needed 21 runs to reach his hundred, with about 30 still needed for the team to win. But then Rahul took charge. That tells you everything about this team. It's not about personal milestones. It's about what each player can do for the team," he said on JioStar.
"To win the match in the 23rd over shows how clinical the chase was. It was a stiff target, not an easy one at all. But they made it look so ridiculously simple because they put the team first," added Gavaskar.
Star opening batsman Rohit Sharma managed to score 16 runs in 16 balls, including two boundaries and a maximum. Skipper Shubman Gill played an unbeaten knock of 84 runs off 66 deliveries, laced with 11 boundaries and two maximums.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan accumulated 34 runs in 22 balls, which included three boundaries and a maximum. Shreyas Iyer registered 12 runs in 15 balls, with the help of a boundary. Along with Gill, KL Rahul stayed unbeaten. Facing just 19 balls, Rahul garnered 39 runs, including four boundaries and three maximums.
Afghanistan's Ziaur Rahman and Rashid Khan claimed one wicket each. Azmatullah Omarzai, Allah Ghazanfar, Mohammad Saleem, and Mohammad Nabi went wicketless in the ODI match against the "Men in Blue".
Earlier, having been put to bat first in the rain-curtailed ODI match against Team India, Afghanistan's wicketkeeper-batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz played a glorious knock of 102 runs, which came in 52 balls, laced with eight boundaries and the same number of maximums. Fellow opening batsman Ibrahim Zadran departed on one run in four balls.
Sediqullah Atal was dismissed on a two-ball duck. Rahmat Shah managed to score three runs in eight balls. Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi accumulated 27 runs in 30 balls, including three boundaries.
Azmatullah Omarzai garnered 26 runs off 16 deliveries, with the help of three maximums. Mohammad Nabi returned to the pavilion on nine runs in 14 balls, including a maximum. Allah Ghazanfar registered a two-ball duck. Rashid Khan and Ziaur Rahman scored nine and four runs, respectively. Facing 13 balls, Rashid smashed two boundaries, whereas Ziaur smashed a boundary in his eight-ball knock. Mohammad Saleem stayed unbeaten on one run in one ball. With this, the Afghans were bowled out for 194 runs in 24.5 overs against the "Men in Blue".
Team India's Gurnoor Brar and Hash Dubey claimed three wickets each. Arshdeep Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy also bagged two wickets each. Prasidh Krishna and Washington Sundar went wicketless in the ODI match against Afghanistan.
