Pacer Gurnoor Brar impressed on his international debut before skipper Shubman Gill played a regal knock to set up India’s seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in the rain-hit series opener here on Saturday.
The game marked the start of India’s preparations for the ODI World Cup in 2027 and the hosts ended up ticking most boxes after persistent rain delayed the game by four and 15 minutes and cut the game to 25 overs a side contest.
Gill’s 11 boundaries and two sixes in a 66-ball knock 84 was a perfect paisavasool for the fans who waited for close to four hours as rain and breeze lashed the hill town since morning. Chasing a target of 195 runs, India reached home (195/3) in 22.5 overs without any fuss. KL Rahul 39 off 19 balls hurried up the things in the end, even though the target looked well within the reach. Gill could not reach his century mark, blame it on Rahul’s blitz and the match being reduced to 25 overs-a-side affair but made a statement in the first ODI of the three match bilateral series and looked well set to secure his first ODI series win. Gill pierced through covers and extra covers on the off side repeatedly with his trademark short arm punches and cover drives. His flicks and pulls behind the square on legside kept the scoreboard rolling in the middle overs. Earlier, the skipper took a ‘catch of the day’ in slips to dismiss AM Ghazanfar (0) off debutant Harsh Dubey’s bowling in the 22
over. Gill aside, it was also a day of two Indian debutants, pacer Gurnoor Brar and tweaker Harsh Dubey who returned with three wickets each but in contrasting fashion. Dubey (3/47) proved expensive but bagged three wickets in five overs. Brar (3/27) bowler with express pace throughout the innings and got a hug from bowling coach Morne Morkel at the end of innings. His scalps included opener Ibrahim Zadran (1), dangerman Rashid Khan (9), and tailender Ziaur Rahman (4). Earlier, Rahmanullah Gurbaz lit up the gloomy sky in the afternoon with a fiery 102 in just 51 ball, hitting eight sixes and eight fours. Gurbaz’s lusty hitting made him a crowd favourite, with fans cheering his every six and boundary with loud applause. Till the time, the wicketkeeper-batsman was at the crease, he completely dominated the Indian bowling attack. The pocket-size dynamo was extremely harsh on debutant Harsh Dubey, hitting him for 16 runs in his first over. Later, he clobbered Washington Sundar throwing him out of the attack with 19 runs in an over. It was Nitish Kumar Reddy’s inswinging yorker that uprooted his middle stump in a spectacular fashion, bringing an end to Gurbaz fiery knock in the 15.3 over. Gurnaz stay at the crease put the Indian bowlers at unease, only crawling back into the game once the batter got out. Gurbaz century was the fastest ton by an Afghanistan bastman in ODIs and also the fastest ton scored at this venue ahead of Travis Head.
