The night in Delhi belonged to Abhishek Sharma. The Indian opener played a devastating innings, scoring 82 runs off just 32 balls with his bat. Afghanistan simply couldn’t withstand his onslaught. India chased down the target of 157 runs in just 13.4 overs, losing only 3 wickets, securing a commanding seven-wicket victory.
With this win, the hosts have made a brilliant start to the T20 series against Afghanistan.
After losing the toss and opting to bat, Afghanistan found themselves in trouble from the very beginning. Jasprit Bumrah, returning to the squad after injury, dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz on the second ball of the innings. Although initially a bit expensive with five wides, the Indian pacer bowled a brilliant delivery to get Gurbaz out on the very next ball. As a result, he conceded no runs off the bat in the first over, only extras.
Following this, Sediqullah Atal and new captain Ibrahim Zadran attempted to build some resistance. In the third over, Atal hit Bumrah for a four and a six, signaling a confident start. However, Zadran was run out on the last ball of the fourth over and returned to the pavilion.
The Afghans failed to recover thereafter. Atal gave a catch at short third off Arshdeep Singh’s bowling. In the last over of the powerplay, Gulbadin Naib also skied a catch trying to play a big shot off Axar Patel’s delivery. Nitish Kumar Reddy ran back from cover and took a brilliant catch over his head.
From there, Afghanistan’s batting collapsed further. Varun Chakravarthy, returning to the team after a long time, bowled Darwish Rasooli in his very first over. After seven overs, Afghanistan was in deep trouble, having lost 5 wickets for just 43 runs.
However, Azmatullah Omarzai did not give up there. With responsible batting, he pulled his team out of crisis, scoring a crucial fifty. Ultimately, his innings of 64 runs and Mohammad Nabi’s 33 runs helped Afghanistan reach a respectable total.
They managed to score 156 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in their allotted 20 overs.
For India, Axar Patel played a crucial role, conceding only 27 runs in his four overs. Arshdeep and Bumrah gave away just 15 runs in the last three overs combined. However, Omarzai attacked Shivam Dube in the 20th over, scoring 21 runs from it and pushing Afghanistan’s score past 150.
On Delhi’s batting-friendly wicket, 157 runs was not a significant target for India. And Abhishek Sharma proved just that.
Chasing the target, India suffered an early setback. Sanju Samson, after hitting two quick fours, holed out trying to hit a six. Abhishek then took complete control of the match alongside Ishan Kishan.
There is intense competition for the opening position in India’s T20 squad. The battle for a spot among talented batters like Abhishek, Sanju Samson, and Vaibhav Suryavanshi has heated up. After missing the Zimbabwe tour, Abhishek seemingly gave his answer with the bat upon his return to the team.
His onslaught began with a six over cover off Fazalhaq Farooqi’s bowling. He then hit two more sixes, one over long-off off Omarzai and another over mid-wicket off Farooqi. He further amplified the message of his devastating innings by hitting a six over square leg off Rashid Khan’s bowling.
Abhishek never looked back after that. He sent the ball over the boundary ropes to almost all parts of the ground — long-on, cover, square leg. The Afghan bowlers seemed helpless in the face of his batting.
At the other end, Ishan Kishan was also fluent. However, he largely played the role of a spectator amidst Abhishek’s storm. The duo built a magnificent 121-run partnership for the second wicket. Kishan was dismissed after scoring 42 runs off 33 balls, caught out while attempting to hit a second six off Rashid Khan’s delivery.
By then, India’s victory was already within grasp. Although Rashid Khan didn’t pick up a wicket, he tried to fight for his team by taking two excellent catches. But even he couldn’t stop Abhishek’s storm.
Ultimately, India secured a comfortable seven-wicket victory, scoring 157 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in just 13.4 overs.
Bumrah and Varun’s return, Arshdeep-Axar’s effective bowling, and finally Abhishek Sharma’s batting blitz — all combined to make the first T20 in Delhi a match dominated by India. And with his explosive innings of 82 runs off 32 balls, Abhishek once again demonstrated how difficult it is to stop him when he is in form.