Team India defeated Afghanistan by a dominating 47 runs in their opening Super 8 encounter of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Team India defeated Afghanistan by 47 runs in their opening Super 8 encounter of the T20 World Cup 2024, which took place on June 20 at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Thursday. They rode on Suryakumar Yadav’s brilliant knock on a difficult and challenging pitch to post a competitive total of 181/8. The swashbuckling batter played a remarkable innings of 53 off 28 balls, and build a commanding partnership with Hardik Pandya, despite Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan’s terrific spell of 3/26.
Afghanistan’s effort to chase the target failed miserably, as they were bundled out for 134 in 20 overs. The poor shot selection executed by the Afghan batters eventually led to their collapse and extended their losing streak against India. In addition to this, star spinner Kuldeep Yadav also made a major impact with figures of 2/32. However, Jasprit Bumrah’s outstanding bowling spell of 3/7 in just four overs proved to be too much to handle for the Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan side.
Following India’s great win over Afghanistan, captain Rohit Sharma was seen lauding his team’s bowling efforts, which bundled out the opposition team for just 134 runs. The 38-year-old skipper revealed that he was already aware that his bowlers would defend 181 runs easily. In addition, the top-order batter feels that every bowler took it on themselves and played with unity in the game.
However, he was further asked about bowling changes in the upcoming games, to which Rohit Sharma came up with a straight-forward response. The batting stalwart revealed that he assessed the condition at the Barbados pitch, which made him pick Kuldeep Yadav in the game at the expense of pacer Mohammed Siraj. The flamboyant opener revealed that he might include three seamers from the next game if the conditions demand.
“We knew the class of our bowling line up and that they will defend this. Everyone coming in and doing their job. That is something we keep talking about. We know what Bumrah can do for us. It is important for us to use him smartly. He is the one who is ready to take the responsibility as well. Whereever he plays, he is always ready to take the responsibility. I got to assess the conditions. Looking at the opposition we are ready to make any changes. We thought three spinners would be good, we went for that. Going forward if needed, I am open to playing three seamers,” Rohit Sharma said at the post-match presentation.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma and Co. will be facing Bangladesh in the next game of the T20 World Cup, which is slated to take place on June 22 in Antigua. The Najmul Hossain Shanto-led side suffered a defeat against Australia in their opening game, and they will be looking to pose a tough challenge in front of India.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram and YouTube.
