Abhishek Sharma's 82 helps India crush Afghanistan in T20I opener
Synopsis
Abhishek Sharma's explosive 82 off 32 balls and Arshdeep Singh's 3/19 powered India to a dominant 7-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the Friendship Cup T20I opener. Sharma also defended the team's aggressive batting approach.
Following a scintillating knock that lit up Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium, Indian opener Abhishek Sharma said that a series or two would not be enough to truly define their team, especially the batting unit, given how well their aggressive brand of cricket worked in contributing to their run as back-to-back T20 World Cup champions without dropping a bilateral series.
Arshdeep's three-wicket haul and Abhishek's brutal 32-ball 82 were the highlights as the Friendship Cup between Afghanistan and India kickstarted at Delhi on Sunday with a seven-wicket win for India.
India's Dominant Bowling Display
Indian bowlers dismantled the Afghanistan top order, and even though Mohammed Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai did some fine repair work, the total was a cakewalk for India's explosive batting, which came under a bit of scanner after series losses to Ireland and England during their UK tour post the IPL. A series win over Zimbabwe and this win over Afghanistan in the first T20I continue to show India's faith in their ultra-aggressive T20I approach, even though skippers have changed, with Shreyas Iyer taking over the reins from Suryakumar Yadav. The dismissal of Rahmanullah Gurbaz by Jasprit Bumrah (1/26 in four overs) courtesy of a catch in the slips by Abhishek opened the floodgates of wickets for India, who made Afghanistan collapse to 43/5 in seven overs before Nabi and Omarzai put on a 75-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Sharma on Team's Aggressive Philosophy
During the post-match presentation, Abhishek spoke on the challenge of facing their beloved 'Jassi Bhai' in the nets and expressed the team's faith in their aggressive approach despite some setbacks. "I mean, getting a catch in the first over, and also in the slips, makes you a bit more confident (his catch to dismiss Gurbaz). So that is how we started the innings today. So I am very happy with that. [On the challenge of facing Jasprit Bumrah] Even in T20 cricket, that is likely to happen. I mean, of course, when we face him in the nets as well, it feels like we are playing first few overs of Test cricket to him. So we are always on our toes for him in the slips as well. [On his consistency and returning to form in T20 cricket] I still remember two years back, we decided we wanted to play a certain way and dominate all teams. It worked for a year. But one or two (bad) series won't define our batting. As an opener, you want to give a good start," he said.
Record-Breaking Innings
Abhishek also completed his 6,000 T20 runs during course of the match, becoming the second-fastest batter to reach the milestone. Now in 207 T20s and 203 innings, Abhishek has made 6,077 runs at an average of 32.67 and a strike rate of 176.19, including nine centuries and 38 fifties, with a best score of 148. Abhishek reached the mark in 3,420 balls, next to New Zealand's Finn Allen, who took 3,386 balls. Abhishek was productive against spinner Rashid Khan, scoring 19 runs off seven balls, with two fours and a six. 113 batters have faced the Afghanistan star for at least 30 balls in T20s. Among all these batters, Abhishek's strike rate of 234.88 is the highest.
Match Summary
With this win, India is 1-0 up in the series. India opted to field first, with Afghanistan managing 156/8 courtesy a fighting 64* from Azmatullah Omarzai. Arshdeep Singh (3/19) was sensational with the ball.
During the chase, Abhishek (82 in 32 balls, with seven fours and seven sixes) and Ishan Kishan (42 in 33 balls, with five fours and a six) killed the chase with an entertaining 121-run stand for the second wicket. The chase was completed in 13.4 overs. (ANI)