14 June,2026 06:45 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Nitish Kumar Reddy (Pic: X/@BCCI)
In the rain-shortened first ODI match against Afghanistan, Team India emerged victorious by seven wickets at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala.
During the match, Afghanistan's wicketkeeper-batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz played a blistering knock of 102 runs off 51 deliveries, smashing eight boundaries and the same number of maximums.
Team India's all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy got rid of him by bowling a stunning yorker.
Speaking on the use of yorkers, Reddy said that he wasn't expecting to find himself in the situation in ODIs, where he needed to execute a yorker to dismiss the batsman.
"I would say because I was expecting this situation will come at any point, I mean, I was not expecting in ODIs but at least in T20s like IPL and all, because (as) impact player I was not able to complete four overs I would say. Some matches I was able to bowl two overs, but there will be some matches where I'll be bowling four overs, so I was preparing myself," stated Reddy.
"I shouldn't be clueless when the captain gives me the ball, I have to have some plan, so if it's not regularly not bowling in matches, at least I would do my stuff in practice so that I'll be ready at the right time," added the 23-year-old cricketer.
Star opening batsman Rohit Sharma scored 16 runs in the same number of deliveries, 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.
