Gill leads India to seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in 1st ODI

Pacer Gurnoor Brar impressed on his international debut before captain Shubman Gill played a regal knock to set up India’s seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in the rain-hit series opener 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 a 25-over-a-side contest.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz made a high-quality 102 off just 51 balls while debutants Brar and Harsh Dubey took three wickets each as India bowled out Afghanistan for 194 after opting to field.

Gill (84 not out off 66) carried his splendid form across three formats to help India ease to the target in 22.5 overs. KL Rahul (39 not out off 19) also played his part well considering the situation with his cameo, including a classy six over extra cover off Zia Ur Rahman.

Gill’s opening partner Rohit Sharma (16 off 16) was run out after Gill turned down his call for a risky single in the sixth over of the run chase. With his form and fitness in focus, Rohit was not at his best, but he did come up with a drive on the up and six off his trademark pull shot.

Ishan Kishan (34 off 22) looked good in his ODI comeback at number three before being outdone by a Rashid Khan googly.

Gill got the majority of his majestic boundaries against the spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi and AM Ghazanfar after beginning with a soothing cover drive off pacer Zia Ur Rahman. Gill also took his Gujarat Titans teammate Rashid Khan to the cleaners, with six overs mid-wicket standing out.

Not much time was lost once the skies cleared up, thanks to the recently installed subair drainage system here.

Gurbaz, a proven performer in T20 cricket, came out to bat in the shortened game with a clear mindset, something he attributed to rival coach Gautam Gambhir’s tips after the one-off Test in Mullanpur. For the record, Gurbaz was an important member of the KKR side that won IPL in 2024.

The ball was doing a bit in the air early on, but Gurbaz went on the offensive from the word go, cutting Arshdeep for a four before stepping out to dispatch the left-arm pacer down the ground for a maximum.

The 6 feet 5 inch tall Brar (3/27 in 4.5 overs), who had been a net bowler with the Indian team for a long time prior to getting his ODI cap from captain Shubman Gill on Saturday, consistently clocked 145kmph plus in his first over and got the ball to shape away. His first couple of balls swung away from a full length before pulled his length back to induce an error from opener Ibrahim Zadran who mistimed his aerial hit to be caught at mid-off, giving the Punjab fast bowler instant success in international cricket.

Afghanistan were reduced to 16 for two when Arshdeep had Sediqullah Atal trapped in front off a ball that did not do much. It became 26 for three when Rahmat Shah mistimed his pull off Arshdeep to be caught by another debutant Harsh Dubey running backwards from his mid-wicket position.

Gurbaz would have been adjudged leg before on 14 but Arshdeep and India decided against taking a review.

That was all the luck Gurbaz needed to play a memorable knock. His ninth ODI hundred included eight fours and as many sixes.

He put the bowlers including debutant left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey (3/47 in 5 overs) under pressure with his aggressive strokeplay. Dubey’s first two overs went for 26 runs with Gurbaz punishing his two short balls for a maximum over mid-wicket.

Gurbaz also dispatched a short ball from Brar for maximum while punishing the likes of Prasidh Krishna and Washington Sundar with disdain. However Nitish Kumar Reddy (2/31) bowled steadily and also got a couple of wickets.

Gurbaz’s dismissal in the 16th over slowed down the run rate and Afghanistan were not able to maximise on the platform provided by the opener.

Dubey did manage to get into the wickets column in his second spell by removing Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (27 off 30), the explosive all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai (26 off 16) and AM Ghazanfar.