India vs Afghanistan, 2nd T20I: Gulbadin Naib’s 57, Yashasvi Jaiswal-Shivam Dube's 92-run stand and Axar Patel's 2-17 are top performances. India beat Afghanistan and take an unassailable 2-0 lead.
Brief Scores - Afghanistan 172 (Naib 57, N.Zadran 23, Arshdeep 3/32) lost to India 173/4 (Jaiswal 68, S. Dube 63* Janat, 2/13) by 6 wickets.
Player of the Match - Axar Patel (2/17)
After a cruising win at the end with an inexperienced middle-order, hosts India took on a spirited Afghanistan team in the 2nd of 3-match T20I series at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. The home team produced a thoroughly clinical bowling effort, and quickfire half-centuries from Shivam Dube and Yashasvi ensured India reached 173 with more than 4 overs to spare. Later Axar Patel’s efforts (2/17) to ensure Afghanistan didn’t reach an at-par total saw him being awarded the Player of the Match.
India’s skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and once again opted to field first. Virat Kohli makes his return as does Yashasvi Jaiswal, while for Afghanistan Noor Ahmed comes in for last game’s debutant Rahmat Shah.
Talking points from India vs Afghanistan, 2nd T20I
Rohit Sharma was out for yet another duck, his 2nd in consecutive games. Yes, his form in the shortest format of the game has been a concern for a while now, but the larger question mark should be on his approach with the bat. He has taken an attacking-at-cost approach like he did in the World Cup here as well and it may not work every time.
Just like the last game, Afghanistan showed a good account of themselves by having a sound start in the powerplay. Despite losing the wickets of both their openers in the first 6 overs to India’s spin twins, Afghanistan ended the halfway mark at 81/3. This was all due to the stunning onslaught by Gulbadin Naib who recorded his 2nd T20I half-century. His dismissal led to Afghanistan slowing down a bit but cameos from Najibullah, Karim Janat and Mujeeb took the visitors to their highest total against India in the shortest format (172).
Chasing a below-par total in these batting-friendly conditions, India got off to a flyer as they hammered 69 runs in the powerplay overs, despite losing Rohit Sharma for a duck. This is thanks to a 22-ball 57 runs for the 2nd wicket between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli. However, the latter departed after a blistering 29 off 16. The young batter along with a resurgent Shivam Dube made sure India chased down the target in a canter with 6 wickets in the hut.
Top 3 performances from India vs Afghanistan 2nd T20I, Indore
Gulbadin Naib steals the show with a fiery half-century
Having been promoted up the order, the former Afghanistan skipper Gulbadin Naib showed his mettle with the bat as he bettered India bowlers, especially spinners all across the park in Indore. In his rollicking innings of 35-ball 57, he hit 4 maximums and brought up his 2nd half-century in just 28 balls. Though he got out at the wrong for Afghanistan’s liking, this knock of his kept the team in the hunt for posting a competitive total. The visitors eventually ended their innings with a score of 172.
Axar Patel produces yet another superb bowling display
The left-arm spinner backed up his 2/23 on tough conditions at Mohali with an even better performance in a belter of a batting pitch at Indore. Introduced early in the powerplay overs, Axar Patel struck in the very first over sending back Afghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran for 8 and then accounting for the dangerous-looking Gulbadin Naib for 57.
He not only chipped in with wickets at crucial junctures but also put breaks on the visiting team which left them devoid of momentum in the middle overs. His spell of 2/17 made sure Afghanistan ended well short of a match-winning total.
A 92-run stand between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube seals the deal for India
India were always in a comfortable position following their start with the bat. Despite losing Kohli and Rohit, the home side reached 69 in the powerplay. When it looked like there could be some hiccup for India, thanks to their inexperience in the middle-order, the left-hand duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube took the game completely away from the visitors.
They dealt only with boundaries as their partnership came just 42 deliveries and it included 10 sixes and 10 fours between them. Their approach helped India reach the target without breaking a sweat.
Statistical Highlights from India vs Afghanistan 1st T20I, Mohali
Gulbadin Naib became just the 3rd batter from Afghanistan to score a T20I half-century against India.
The right-hander now has the 2nd best score among Afghanistan players versus India, only behind Ibrahim Zadran’s 64* in 2022.
Naib with 107 runs is also only the 2nd batter from Afghanistan to have accumulated 100 or more against India in T20Is.
This was Naib’s highest T20I score, eclipsing his previous best of 56* against Zimbabwe.
172 is the highest total posted by Afghanistan against India in T20I cricket. The previous best was 157 in the 1st game at Mohali.
Arshdeep finished with 3/32 and he now has 5 wickets against Afghanistan in this format. This is the joint-most for India along with R Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who also have 5 wickets.
A 92-run stand for the 3rd wicket between Jaiswal and Dube is the 3rd highest partnership for any wicket against Afghanistan in T20I cricket.
Jaiswal scored his 4th international T20 half-century and Dube brought up his 3rd (2nd in as many games).
Shivam Dube’s 63* off 32 is his highest T20I score, eclipsing his previous best of 60 from the Mohali game.
What’s Next
India have sealed the series 2-0 with a game to go at Bangalore on the 17th of January. It is to be noted that, that specific game will be India’s last T20I game before the World T20 later this year. So it won’t be a dead rubber by any means for both sides as Afghanistan also would like to put on a much better show.
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