India dominates once again in the World Cup 2023 clash against Afghanistan where Virat Kohli dazzled his hometown supporters with a remarkable fifty, while Rohit Sharma captivated the audience with a dynamic innings, securing the record for the fastest hundred ever by an Indian in World Cup history.
On a pitch tailor-made for batting, Afghanistan’s decision to bat first appeared strategic, aiming to set a daunting target. However, Rohit Sharma’s tactical move to bowl first capitalized on the dew factor, providing India with a decisive advantage. The formidable trio of Bumrah, Hardik, and Shardul struck early, disrupting Afghanistan’s initial momentum. Despite a spirited century partnership between Afghanistan’s captain Hashmatullah and Azmatullah, Hardik Pandya’s impeccably executed slower ball shattered their partnership, marking a pivotal turning point in the match.
Following this breakthrough, Afghanistan struggled to maintain momentum, falling short of the anticipated 300-run mark. Jasprit Bumrah’s exceptional bowling skills further hampered their efforts, restricting them to a subpar total. The pitch, initially primed for a score of over 350, transformed into a daunting challenge for Afghanistan’s batsmen.
Captain’s statement as per Cricbuzz
Rohit Sharma, India captain
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 about it. It’s just about focusing on what we can do as players and how we can perform.
Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan captain
We had in mind that India’s batting lineup is long, 300 was on our mind but unfortunately we lost too many wickets. The surface was good. We wanted to score more runs and put pressure on the opposition. Back-to-back wickets was the reason we didn’t score more runs. After losing 3 wickets I was talking to Azmatullah – Don’t worry about dots, we will convert later. Our aim was to build a partnership. We have seven more games, looking forward to those games. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes and we will work on it.
Rohit Sharma, Player of the Match
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.