This was a match that India used to tick various boxes put in front of them, without having a lot of stress to deal with.
Shubman Gill was imperious in his first ODI century as India captain, and made it 154 for good measure. After anchoring a chase in Dharamshala, taking control of matters batting first would be another aspect the home team would be pleased about, apart from the 170-run win, that sealed the three-match series against Afghanistan with a game to spare.
Ishan Kishan showed he can provide the impetus needed in the middle order. His 125 off 79 balls, after reaching fifty at less than a run a ball, proved he has gears to his batting and can adapt to situations.
Gill’s exertions in excessive heat – the conditions necessitated three drinks breaks in the first innings – meant the skipper didn’t come out on the field to defend a total of 402 due to cramps. It allowed India’s new T20 captain Shreyas Iyer to take charge in largely trouble-free circumstances as the visitors were never seriously in the chase.
AS IT HAPPENED | India vs Afghanistan 2nd ODI highlights
It allowed debutant Prince Yadav, who impressed in the Indian Premier League with his pace and aggression, to test international waters. He celebrated prematurely when he had Rahmanullah Gurbaj, the centurion from the last game, top-edging a pull to Arshdeep Singh, only to find that he had overstepped. Prince’s big moment did arrive later when he burst through left-hander Nangeyaliya Kharote for his first wicket in India colours. But it was Gurnoor Brar who caught the eye again with his hard lengths and bounce, getting the dangerman Gurbaj soon after his reprieve to end any hope of Afghanistan making a match of it.
KL Rahul kept wickets, after Kishan had donned the gloves in the previous game, underscoring another area where India have options.
Any total of over 400 is a big deal, but it looked set to be a lot more when Gill and Kishan were in the midst of their 224-run third-wicket stand in 140 balls. Once the partnership was broken, India lost 8/82 in a little over 13 overs.
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Rashid Khan, Afghanistan’s best bowler, had to go off with a niggle after bowling six overs – at a time when the Indians were really putting their foot on the gas. When he returned to bowl two overs, allied with the pitch slowing down and the ball losing its hardness, the home team struggled to find the rope.
After a decent start to the chase, once a couple of Afghan wickets went down, the match became something of a centre-wicket practice session with both teams trying to get out of it what they could.
What the game will be remembered for – rather less fondly – is the uncomfortable conditions it was played in. The temperature when the match got underway was 38 degrees Celsius, with the real feel being around 42 degrees. Afghanistan’s Darwish Rasooli has had a testing few days and was at the receiving end on his ODI debut.
Rasooli had to leave the squad after the one-off Test when he received news that his father had passed away. Joining the team before the second ODI, he fielded in the afternoon heat before suffering cramps towards the end of the Indian innings and had to be carried off on a stretcher.
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That would have been the end of his involvement in the game, but Rasooli came out to bat at No.5. However, he didn’t last long.
Trying an ungainly pull off Gurnoor, he fell on his back clutching his leg with all the Indian players surrounding him in concern. The physio strapped his leg and after a long delay, head coach Richard Pybus called Rasooli back. The conditions would also explain why a stadium with a capacity of around 50,000 didn’t have more than 15,000 spectators at any time.
Under little pressure, it was a professional performance by the Indian bowlers and all of them, apart from Kuldeep Yadav, finished among the wickets. The left-arm wrist-spinner didn’t play the game at Dharamshala and had come into the XI in Harsh Dubey’s place. With contenders for spin-bowling spots coming up in various formats, the lack of wickets for Kuldeep would be a concern as he bowled a large chunk of his deliveries to the Afghan lower order as well.
For the visitors, Rahmat Shah helped himself to a 79, but it had only academic significance, with the match over as a contest a long time back.
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Brief scores: India 402 all out in 49.5 overs (Gill 154, Kishan 125; Nangeyaliya Kharote 4/76, Rashid Khan 3/48) beat Afghanistan 232 all out in 44.3 overs (Rahmat Shah 79; Arshdeep 3/45, Brar 3/60) by 170 runs.
