Mohali, JAN-12, In the absence of Virat Kohli, captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed on the second ball of the innings, and Shivam Dube (40 balls 60*) and Jitesh Sharma (31 off 20 balls) were substituted as pinch-hitters. Local hero Shubman Gill is back. They turned heads after passing within four overs in the dressing room and helped India reach a target of 159 in 17.3 overs in the first T20I at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Thursday. India won by six wickets in frigid conditions to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Afghanistan, known for their top-class spin bowlers, struggled to defend their total but could not stop the Indian batsmen from reaching the target with relative ease. India’s chase got off to a disappointing start, with some confusion between Sharma and Gill in the first over. With the bowling of Fazalhaq Farooqui. Rohit hit the ball on middle and ran towards the non-striker end, but Gill was staring at the ball and did not respond to the skipper’s call. An enraged Rohit vented his disappointment and trudged back to the dressing room.
Gill hit five boundaries, but he couldn’t stay long. He was dismissed by Muzeeb-ur-Rahman for
24 runs. Thereafter, Shivam Dube and his Tilak Varma did not allow the opposition bowlers to dominate during his lively 44-run partnership for the third wicket. Dube’s brilliant knock of 60 off 40 balls and Jitesh Sharma’s knock of 31 helped India win with 15 balls remaining. Rinku scored 16 runs out of 9 balls and did not get out until the end with 2 fours. Shivam Dube was named man of the match. With this win, India leads the T20 series with his 3-1 .
Earlier, Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first. Afghanistan scored 159 runs losing 5 wickets. Mohammad Nabi led the team with 42 runs. For the Indian team, Axar Patel and Mahesh Kumar bagged two wickets each, while Shivam Dube bagged one wicket.