3 players who starred and 2 who flopped for India in the World Cup 2023 match vs Afghanistan ft. Rohit Sharma & Jasprit Bumrah
Team India continued their march to World Cup glory with another dominant win in their second outing against Afghanistan in Delhi on Wednesday, October 11. It was India's third win in four ODI games against the Afghans, with the other being a tie in 2018.
Rohit Sharma's men were chasing a target for the second consecutive game, following a six-wicket win against Australia in their World Cup opener. While the Men in Blue stuttered to 2/3 in their chase of 200 before a match-winning partnership between Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, the side had no alarms against their Asian rivals.
Chasing 273, the Indians romped home in just 35 overs with eight wickets to spare to climb to second on the points table, only behind New Zealand.
It sets up the Men in Blue for their marquee clash against arch-rivals Pakistan in Ahmedabad on Saturday, October 14. The Men in Green are also unbeaten after their two games.
With that said, as in any World Cup game, there were a few heroes and some that struggled mightily in the Afghanistan clash.
Here is a look at the three biggest stars who shone above the rest in the crushing victory.
# 1 Rohit Sharma
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was undoubtedly the star performer of India's eight-wicket win against Afghanistan.
Coming off a six-ball duck against the Aussies in the opening game, the 36-year-old put to bed any questions about his technical issues that had been doing the rounds.
With a steely look in his eyes, Rohit reached his half-century in just 30 deliveries, leading India to their 100 in the 12th over of the innings. The carnage continued with the champion batter delighting the Delhi crowd en route to his 31st ODI century, a landmark he reached off only 63 deliveries.
It was the fastest ton by an Indian batter in World Cup history, overtaking former captain Kapil Dev's knock of 175 from 72 balls against Zimbabwe in the 1983 edition. Sharma also joined Aussie opener David Warner as the fastest to 1,000 World Cup runs. His 31st century leapfrogged him above another Australian legend, Ricky Ponting, to third on the all-time ODI centuries list, only behind Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar.
Sharma also overtook former West Indian opener Chris Gayle for striking the most number of sixes in international cricket, with 556 maximums. To top it all, it was also Rohit Sharma's incredible seventh World Cup century, overtaking Tendulkar's tally of six to become the leading century-maker.
The Indian skipper was a sight to behold on a night where he kept the statisticians busy with several records tumbling during his knock of 131 from 84 deliveries.
# 2 Jasprit Bumrah
Forgotten amidst the second innings masterclass from Rohit Sharma was a sensational bowling display by ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah. The 29-year-old, who recently returned from a year-long injury layoff in the Ireland T20Is, had arguably his best outing with the ball in the Afghanistan game.
On what has been the best batting track in the tournament at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Bumrah delivered a lesson on fast bowling with his four-wicket haul. The pace spearhead broke a blossoming opening partnership for 32 before derailing the Afghan innings in the death overs.
His dismissals of big hitters Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi in the 45th over ended Afghanistan's hopes of breaching the 300 mark. Bumrah capped off his memorable stint with the wicket of Rashid Khan to finish with outstanding figures of 4/39 in ten overs.
# 3 Virat Kohli
It is not often that Virat Kohli plays second fiddle to someone, yet the star batter showcased his ability to do just that on Wednesday for the team cause. With Rohit Sharma going great guns at the other end, King Kohli bided his time and was the ideal ally to the Indian skipper.
Although Team India raced to 156/1 in the 19th over, the 34-year-old ensured no further stutters with a solid knock of 55 from 56 deliveries to steer the side home comfortably.
Walking into rousing cheers as the local hero, Kohli scored his second consecutive half-century of the World Cup, following his match-winning 85 against Australia in the opener.
While the match was predominantly full of positives for Team India, there were a couple of players whose form during the game might be a slight cause of concern.
# 1 Flop 1 - Mohammed Siraj
Amidst all the hoopla for the Mumbai Indians duo of Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj's second consecutive mediocre outing will worry the Indian team management.
While Siraj has been India's best pacer in ODIs this year, including a record-breaking Asia Cup final performance (6-21), his start to the World Cup has been iffy. The 29-year-old looked off-color in his first spell against Australia but finished with decent figures of 1/26 in 6.3 overs.
However, Siraj was dismal from start to finish against Afghanistan, with unfathomable figures of 0/76 in nine overs. It was also his second-worst bowling figures in ODIs.
With Mohammed Shami breathing down his neck and warming the benches, it will not be surprising to see Team India do a like-for-like replacement between Siraj and Shami.
# 2 Flop 2 - Shardul Thakur
While the term 'flop' might be overstating Shardul Thakur's performance against Afghanistan, the bowling all-rounder failed to capitalize fully on the opportunity.
Despite picking up the wicket of Rahmat Shah, the 31-year-old bowled only six overs and finished with figures of 1/31. Considering all the eyebrows raised seeing Thakur replace Ravichandran Ashwin instead of Mohammed Shami, the medium-pacer had to showcase the ability to bowl his full quota of overs with penetration in the middle and death overs.
With that not transpiring, the outside noise will remain on Shardul Thakur's presence in the Indian playing XI.