Rohit Sharma celebrates his half century in the match vs Afghanistan. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)India vs Afghanistan World Cup 2023 Highlights: India skipper Rohit Sharma broke a 40-year old record as he scored the fastest century by an Indian in a World Cup as he led his team to a 8 wicket victory against Afghanistan. Local hero Virat Kohli also helped himself to a 50 in a batting friendly track and guided India home with a half century.
Earlier, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (80) and Azmatullah Omarzai (62) lead Afghnaistan’s resistance against a buoyant India bowling attack as they finished with 272/8 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday. Jsprit Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers when he finished with figures of 4/39.
Shahidi had won the toss and elected to bat on a hot afternoon in New Delhi. India made one change to their side from the previous game as they dropped off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and brought in seam-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur.
Scroll down for IND vs AFG highlights
India
273/2 (35.0)Afghanistan
272/8 (50.0)India beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets
On ODI cricket - I come from a generation who loves playing and watching the longer format.
On his celebration- I just felt like doing it.
On chase - We were not looking at the net run rate. We didn’t think that Rohit will give us such a start. Very happy with the way we won the match
Playing Pakistan at Home - I will be happy to see my mother at home. I have been away for a long time.
On his comeback trail - I look at my preparation. I am a detached person. I don’t look at what people are talking about me.
On Kotla wicket - I have played days games here. But today it was breezy and i will take that. There was a little bit of seam initially, I was just trying to hit the hard lengths and I got the results.
On his bowling- I am not result oriented. It doesn’t make me very very happy just because I have picked four wickets. I back myself and follow the process, read the wickets.
Was a good win for us, very important to get that momentum at the start of the tournament. It is about absorbing pressure and taking the right decision on the field. There will be a spell from the opposition where you will have to absorb pressure. Leading up to the tournament we had played such games. You have got players with different skill sets in our team. They bring different attributes of the game to the team and it puts you in good positions as a team when you have that. We have got guys who can play fearless cricket with bat and guys who can absorb like the last game. (Asked about playing Pakistan and the talk around it) For us it's crucial that we don't worry about external factors and just look at things we can control. We just need to show up and do well. Things like what the pitch is like, what combo we can play is what we can control. What happens outside we won't be worried
It was a good pitch to bat on, just backed myself to play my natural game. I knew once I got my eye in, the wicket was going to get easier for me. Something that I have been working on from a long time. It's a special feeling to get a World Cup hundred. Really happy with that. Don't want to think too much (scoring 7 hundreds in just three World Cups), I don't want to lose my focus. You need to make such things count. You gotta make it big. Some of it (the shots he plays) is premeditated. I let my instincts take over at times, sometimes it really works well. It's my job to make sure to get those starts especially in run chases. That's something I have done in the past and something I love doing. Sometimes it (attacking the bowlers) works, sometimes it doesn't. Just need to keep doing it and keep putting oppositions under pressure going forward.
Azmatullah Omarzai in the attack now and that's a boundary to start this over. And Kohli has brought up his half century!! Indfia close to a victory. And we are done here. Kohli with a straight four to finish things off. IND win by 8 wickets
Fazalhaq Farooqi will continue after the break. Shreyas takes a single and india will be looking to wrap this up quickly to maintain a good NRR which might come into play at the later stages of the tournament. After two dots, Kohli with a single of his own as well. Iyer pulls next and that's run to the boundary. Easy pickings. IND 261/2 after 34 overs
Mujeeb in the attack and Shreyas Iyer welcomes him with a massive six. They are tired of waiting and wil hope to send this crowd back home early. Under 20 runs to get now. IND 255/2 after 33 overs, need 18 to win
- With 7th ton, breaks Sachin Tendulkar's record for most centuries in the tournament
- With 63-ball ton, breaks Kapil Dev's record for fastest century by an Indian in the tournament
- With 131, breaks Sachin Tendulkar's record for highest score by an Indian in a run-chase in the tournament
- Goes past Chris Gayle record for most sixes in men's international cricket (all formats combined)
- Goes past Ricky Ponting's tally of 30 ODI centuries, now only behind Sachin Tendulkar (49) and Virat Kohli (47)
Fazalhaq Farooqi back in the atatck and can he take a wicket to at least put India in a little bit of pressure? Does not look like it as the batters are slowly chipping away at the target. 5 from this one. IND 244/2 after 32 overs
Mujeeb will continue and Kohli with a single to start this one off. A quieter phase in the match now as India are pretty comfortable. They know that victory is just a few runs away. 2 from this over. IND 239/2 after 31 overs
Rashid Khan in to bowl the next over and gives away three singles from the first 3 balls. The next two get 1 more as this is a good over for AFG. IND 237/2 after 30 overs
Mujeeb in to bowl the next over and after a quiet couple of overs, he has bowled a wide which evades the keeper and goes to the boundary!! Not what AFG would need at this juncture. The match is slipping farther and farther away from them. IND 232/2 after 29 overs
Rashid continues and after two quick singles, Kohli has slammed him for a four. The boundaries are coming at regular intervals. India well on their way. IND 221/2 after 28 overs
During the break, the cameras caught Naveen and Kohli shaking hands with each other. That's that for the rivalry, hopefully. Azmatullah continues and Kohli with a boundary to start this one off. Just 1 more from this one. IND 212/2 after 27 overs
Rashid in the attack again and Kohli with a hard strike which is saved near the boundary. Just a single. Rohit with a single of his own next as they rapidly rotate the strike. And Rashid strikes again!! Rohit is cleaned up!! Leaves to a standing ovation. IND 205/2 after 25.4 overs
Azmatullah back in the attack and Kohli pounces on his second delivery for a four!! 200 up for India. That was fast. after 2 dots next, Kohli off strike with a single. IND 202/1 after 25 overs
Naveen continues, Kohli on strike. Will there be fireworks? Been a little anticlimactic to be honest after that huge buildup. Neither has had the upper hand. 2 dos to start this over before Kohli takes a single to rotate strike. Rohit with a single of his own and Kohli back on strike. Nothing off the last deliveries. IND 197/1 after 24 overs
Rashid Khan continues and Rohit has hit him for back to back fours. Follows that up with 6 more!!! Absolute destruction!! My word, he is making Rashid look ordinary. IND 194/1 after 23 overs
Naveen-ul-Haq again and Rohit with a boundary again off his first delivery. Takes a single next and Kohli on strike. Back to back dots as Kohli defends. Nothimg more from the over. 5 from it. IND 178/1 after 22 overs
Rashid in to bowl the next and Kohli with a straight drive for a four to start this over. Just 5 more from the last 5 balls, including a wide. IND 173/1 after 21 overs
With his whirlwind knock against Afghanistan in New Delhi on Wednesday, India captain Rohit Sharma broke Sachin Tendulkar's record for the most centuries in the history of ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.
Most centuries in ICC Men's Cricket World Cup:
Naveen-ul-Haq introduced as Virat Kohli stands in the non striker's end. Rohit on strike and starts this one off with a great boundary. What timing. Two dots follow as the crowd still waits for the Naveen-Kohli confrontation. A single next and finally Kohli on strike. The crowd is electric now as the Kohli chants fill the ground. Played the first ball with a straight bat but a dot. Edges the last ball for a single. IND 164/1 after 20 overs
Rashid Khan continues and gives away 2 from the first 3 balls as the batters rotate strike. And Kishan is gone!!! Leading edge and he has given a dolly to Ibrahim Zadran. IND 156/1 after 18.4 overs
We are back from the drinks break and here's Rohit Sharma to face Nabi. Slices it away and there's a four!! Moves to 99!! And that's his 100. The fastest century by an Indian in the WC. IND 151/0 after 17.3 overs
Rashid Khan back and starts with a dot before Rohit takes a single off his second delivery. Moves to 94 runs. Beautiful by Rashid as he beats Kishan's edge by inches. Next ball, Kishan takes 2 as Rohit and the crowd wait for him to get on strike. He'll be, in the next over. IND 140/0 after 17 overs
Nabi continues and after a single, Kishan smashes him for a boundary. These two batters are relentless at the moment. Just 5 from this over though. IND 135/0 after 16 overs
Rashid Khan introduced in the attack now and Rohit with a single to go off strike. Kishan returns the favour with a single of his own. 2 more from Rohit as he moves into the 90s. IND 130/0 after 15 overs
Mujeeb in to bowl the next and Kishan with a four to start this over as well. Rohit back on strike now and he helps Mujeeb's less than ideal delivery to a four of his own. And another!! This time to deep exttar covers. The runs are absolutely flowing. IND 125/0 after 14 overs
Nabi will continue and Kishan starts him off with a four!! This man can hit as well, lest you forget due to the Rohit blitzkrieg on the other end. And just like that Kishan has deposited Nabi over the ropes for a six!! IND 111/0 after 13 overs
Mujeeb in to bowl the 12th and that's 100 for India in just a matter of time. This one was a good over for AFG as well. Just 2 from it as the situation has calmed down a little in the middle. IND 100/0 after 12 overs
Nabi in to bowl the 11th over and this is by far th best the Afghan bowlers have bowled in quite a while. Just 2 from it as the veteran keeps the IND batters quiet. Just 2 from it. IND 96/0 after 11 overs
Something interesting unfolding at New Zealand nets. Ish Sodhi seems to have the leg spin aside for the time being and seems to be working on some mystery delivery. He is bowling with an action that is almost similar to that of Varun Chakravarthy. (From Venkata Krishna B at Chennai)
NZ get down to their net session as Kane Williamson who missed both their matches first to take guard. (From Venkata Krishna B at Chennai)
Mujeeb in to bowl the next one and Rohit goes after him but misses . Wide ball to start. And he has hit it straight up in the aiiirrr!! Will it be taken? No. Landed safely. The collective hearts of everyone watching almost stopped. Sweep shot now and that also gets four more. IND 94/0 after 10 overs
Azmatullah Omarzai in the attack now and Rohit defends to start this one off. Leaves the next ball as it goes through to the keeper. Oh dear god!!! He's hit it out of the park again!! This might be the biggest of the lot!! Goes again and he's making it look incredibly easy!! Four more, this time over mid off. IND 87/0 after 9 overs
Rohit Sharma on strike on 49 and Naveen will bowl this one. The crowd waits with bated breath. Naveen makes them wait longer as the first two balls are dots. Still the fans wait as the strokes are finding the AFG fielders. Rohit is tired of waiting, goes over the inner circle and gets a four to bring up his 50. And he' still no0w done. Picks up the lengh and sends the ball into orbit for another 6!!! What an innings!! IND 75/0 after 8 overs
STAT ALERT: Rohit Sharma goes past Chris Gayle's record for the most number of sixes in international cricket (three formats combined). Gayle had hit 553 in his career, Rohit is now at 554 and counting.
Farooqi continues and Rohit has easily put the first ball over the bowler's head and into the stands for a 6!!! 50 up in no time. The next ball is smashed for four more!! The AFG pacer does not know where to look. Leading edge next and will get 2. The runs are flowing at the moment. Aaaandd another six!! Picked up off his leg side and into the crowd!!! Sharma already on 49. IND 64/0 after 7 overs
Naveen ul Haq is introduced now and after two dots, Kishan has flipped the next one past short fine for a boundary. Was a chance there but the fielder could not get a hand to it. Two singles next as the batters rotate strike. Down Kishan's leg side next and he has flicked it behind for four more. Expensive from Naveen. IND 47/0 after 6 overs
New Zealand who have two wins out of two have arrived for a training session at Chepauk. They seem to be taking it lightly today as they are engaged in a game of football for now. Must say it has been an intense game which has now lasted for nearly 45 minutes.
Farooqi in to bowl the 5th and Rohit has absolutely smoked his secxond delivery for a six!! Walks down the line and that's a flat maxiumum. That will give him a world of confidence. That's also 1000 runs for for the Indian captain in the World Cup. Farooqi changes his angles and Rohit pulls him for four more. Ends the over with another glorious boundary. IND 37/0 after 5 overs
Mujeeb continues and Ishan Kishan finally gets a boundary as he plays late and places it through the covers to get his first run sin this WC. Takes a single next and Rohit is back on strike. And the 5th delivery is pulled away for four more, this time by Rohit. IND 23/0 after 4 overs
Farooqi continues and Rohit starts this one off with a defence. Beautifully timed off the second to square length as it just evades the diving Rashid Khan to get to the boundary. Takes 2 off the last ball and wil retain strike in the next over. IND 13/0 after 3 overs
Mujeeb in to bowl the second over and AFG have introduced spin pretty early on. After a dot, Rohit plays the second ball towards mid wicket for 2. Same result and same space off the next as 2 more is added to the tally. IND 7/0 after 2 overs
Farooqi with a wideish delivery towards the leg side to start and Rohit flicks it to backward square to get off the mark for the first time in this WC. Kishan, meanwhile, is a bit tentative in this over, just defending. A wide from the bowler as he's comstantly baiting Kishan to have a go at him but Kishan leaving. IND 2/0 after 1 over
And here they come. Afghanistan players in a huddle before dispersing and the Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan . Fazalhaq Farooqi will open the attack for Afghanistan.
The Indian team will be hoping that their top order clicks as they come out for the chase in a little bit. Both Rohit and Ishan will be under pressure after their less than ideal start against Australia. So they'll be looking to make the most of the Kotla surface tonight.
The world knows about Virat’s traits as a batsman and fiery character who doesn’t take a back step. Australian cricket world saw their own reflection in him; and so did Pakistan, whose legendary former players gush in awe about him, using “but Virat ko dekho” to mock their own players. He can show the middle finger to the Australian crowd, he can mouth invectives with the South Africans, he can taunt James Anderson’s age, he can share a slew of sledges with Pakistanis, and still have all of them dreaming to take his wicket as a prized trophy. (Read More)
“We play better spinners in the net sessions. Like if you see Rashid, Nabi, Noor and Mujeeb, we play them every day. So, I think our team is far better in playing spin bowling,” Afghanistan skipper Shahidi had said at the press conference one day before the match. Today, with his 80 runs, he did frustrate the Indian bowlers and backed up his words. (READ MORE)
I am really happy having scored my first World Cup fifty. I'll try to carry this form into the next games. We lost early wickets, so we were trying to build a partnership. We were rotating the strike and tried to put the loose balls away. We tried to score around 300, but we lost wickets in the middle overs. We have good spinners in our team, so will try to defend this total.
Last over and Naveen on strike as the crowd chants "Kohli" "Kohli." Siraj steams in and starts with 2 dots. Hits the 3rd ball straight to get 2 runs. Just wait till Naveen comes to bowl and Kohli comes in to bat. The atmosphere will be electric. Meanwhile, Naveen does not let the chants affect him as he cuts for a boundary. 1 bye to end as AFG finish with 272/8 after 50 overs
Naveen ul Haq in the crease now and the crowd chants Kohli's name. Remember, the spat these two had in the IPL during the match between LSG and RCB? Since then, there have been various shots fired and it all comes down to this. AFG 264/8 after 49 overs
On to the last 2 overs and what a catch by Kuldeep Yadav at the deep to dismiss Rashid Khan. Yadav was running in from deep point, almost drops the ball but catches it in the second attempt. Bumrah has another. AFG 261/8 after 48.1 overs
Siraj in the attack now and Rashid takes another single to go off strike. Mujeeb returns the favour with a single of his own. Eashid finally gets the a clear strike of the ball and makes Siraj pay for a boundary. Goes again and he has improved on his last shot with a huge six!!AFG 261/7 after 48 overs
Bumrah continues and Rashid with a single to go off strike. Mujeeb defends the next 2 resolutely before hitting the next one straight back at the bowler for a boundary. That was hit hard. Another four. Useful runs for Afghanistan. AFG 247/7 after 47 overs
Jadeja in to bowl the 46th and there's a chance for a catch out but the fielder fails to reach it. Rashid has been kept on a lease though as he can't seem to get anything away. Just 3 from this one. AFG 238/7 after 46 overs
And that's another one. Nabi looked to shift gears with a four off the last ball but Bumrah has his man. LBW and the umpire agrees. But AFG will review. And it's umpire's call. That's another down. AFG 235/7 after 45 overs