India (159/4) defeat Afghanistan (158/5) by six wickets in the first T20I to go 1-0 up in the 3-match series

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T20 Cricket is back for Team India and it is the series of the shortest format before the all-important T20 World Cup 2024 in which they face Afghanistan. Men in Blue played their T20I series against South Africa away from home. Big names like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are back T20 squad making things more interesting ahead of the World Cup in terms of selection.

For Afghanistan, Ibrahim Zadran will lead the side in the absence of star spinner Rashid Khan who is missing the first game due to an injury. Afghanistan has already shown in the recent ODI World Cup that they are not to be taken lightly as defeated the likes of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England, and Netherlands in style. Likes of Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, and more will be keen on making a statement in this series to make their place in the team.

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Squads:

Afghanistan
Squad: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran(c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Qais Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Karim Janat, Ikram Alikhil, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib

India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson(w), Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi

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Indian cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma will be returning to T20I action after almost 14 months as he leads the side against Afghanistan in the three-match series starting Thursday. It was back in November 2022 when Rohit last played a T20I game and it was against England in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-finals. Since then, the focus has mainly been on the longer formats but with the T20 World Cup 2024 just round the corner, Rohit has rejoined the ranks with fellow veteran batter Virat Kohli. While the return is already special for cricket fans, Rohit has a chance to clinch a massive record as a captain.

Rohit is on the verge of becoming the India's most successful T20I captain with respect of matches won. MS Dhoni currently holds the record with 41 wins from 72 matches. On the other hand, Rohit has led the Indian cricket team on 51 occasions with the side emerging victorious in 39.

If India are able to win all three matches in the series against Afghanistan, Rohit will surpass Dhoni in the elite list with a chance to extend his record in the first game of the T20 World Cup 2024.

Indian squad for three T20 international matches against Afghanistan

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.

The Afghanistan squad

Ibrahim Zadran (Captian), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ikram Alikhil (WK), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen Ul Haq, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem, Qais Ahmad, Gulbadin Naib and Rashid Khan.

NDTV
 
Lol no jaiswal this is ridiculous and they pick gill and two fast bowlers only
 
India should have batted first

This is going to be a boring, one sided match
 
From BCCI:

UPDATE: Mr Yashasvi Jaiswal was unavailable for selection for the first T20I due to a sore right groin.
 
India have won the toss and have opted to field

Teams:

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(w), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar
 
I like the spinners selected in the team. All of them will give batting depth.We don't need 3 fast bowlers in west indies .Hardik may return and we should be good with 3 spinners.For t20 Wc At max it has to be jadeja in place of axar.Bumrah and siraj for pacers slot.
 
Team selection. Indicates they don't care much about this world T20.
Good to see Dubey in the Squad. He needs more chances before the final squad is announced. Pandya cannot be trusted with his fitness.

Sundar is another good selection.
 
If Dubey can up his pace to 132 k's, he could be a good replacement for Hardik.

Bowling in mid 120's is not good at all. Anil Kumble could bowl that with only 2 steps in his runup.
 
Afg needs to improve their batting. They will be a bottom team unless they find a world class batsman at the top. Can't rely on their spin bowling to bail them out every time.
 
Why play cricket in North India in the month of January and that too night cricket?
 
Score Updates

Afg 72/3 after 12 overs. Poor start by Afghanistan. India in full command at the moment.
 
Innings Break

Afg 158/5 after 20 overs. India need to chase 159 runs in their quota of overs to go 1-0 in Series.
 
Rohit is so unfortunate. A golden duck for him after returning as T20I captain.
 
I am impressed with the innings Mohammad Nabi played today.He is getting better and better as he is getting older.
 
The more I watch Tilak, I feel he is not international quality. He needs a couple more IPL seasons before he can be ready for IPL. He can only score boundaries. Cannot rotate the strike at all.

I prefer Ishan Kishan over him any day now.
 
Score Updates

Ind 74/3 after 9 overs. A modest start by them but can Afghanistan engender Upset?
 
India vs Afghanistan 1st T20I Match Summary:

Shivam Dube hit an unbeaten 60 as India defeated Afghanistan by six wickets in the first T20I in Mohali on Thursday. A run-chase that got underway with a horrible mix-up, resulting in Rohit Sharma's run out, India scampered home with 15 balls to spare. Earlier, Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar bagged two wickets each to help India restrict Afghanistan to 158/5 in 20 overs. Mohammad Nabi hits quickfire 42 for Afghanistan, while Azmatullah Omarzai played a rapid cameo of 29. The pair added 68 runs for the fourth wicket before Mukesh dismissed both in the same over.

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Shivam Dube Afghanistan ko lay Dube

match winning performance from him. If he had gotten out early, it could have been a tricky chase for India.
 
The more I watch Tilak, I feel he is not international quality. He needs a couple more IPL seasons before he can be ready for IPL. He can only score boundaries. Cannot rotate the strike at all.

I prefer Ishan Kishan over him any day now.
He gave fake first impression to indian fans that he is attack from first ball but he is tuk tuk batsman
 
After this series, Sai Sudarshan should replace tilak in t20.Sai can also bowl and he is a very good batsmen. I think Tilak will need another 3 to 4 years of domestic experience to improve the strike rate
 
The more I watch Tilak, I feel he is not international quality. He needs a couple more IPL seasons before he can be ready for IPL. He can only score boundaries. Cannot rotate the strike at all.

I prefer Ishan Kishan over him any day now.
I agree. Tilak looks to be one more overrated IPL hack. Rohit's big words did wonders to his chances but he looks pedestrian.
 
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