Rohit-Sharma-and-Dinesh-Karthik. (Photo Source: Twitter)
India took an unassailable 2-0 lead over Afghanistan in the three-match series as they beat them by six wickets on Sunday, January 14 at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube were seen in imperious form as their quick-fire 92-run stand off 42 balls helped India chase down 173 in 15.4 overs.
While most of the players had a memorable outing in the game, captain Rohit Sharma got dismissed for his second consecutive duck of the series. Notably, the Indian skipper, unfortunately, got run out in the first T20I and later lost his stumps against Fazalhaq Farooqi in the second game. Reflecting on Rohit’s failure, cricketer-turned-commentator Dinesh Karthik said that it’s not a big worry as he’s back in the format after a long time.
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“The only failure has been the skipper. Two naughts in two games but he wouldn’t be too worried about that. Back in this format after a long time. Back as captain. He was run out in the first game. Tried to hit a big one today and lost his stumps but India have done well,” Kartik said on commentary.
Notably, Rohit also became the first male cricketer to play 150 T20Is during the second T20I and reflected on his journey in the format. The Indian captain is the second-highest run scorer of the format with 3853 runs to his name at an average of 30.82 with joint most four hundreds.
“It’s a great feeling [to get 150 T20I caps]. It’s been a long journey, starting in 2007. I think we are very clear about what we want to do and achieve. When you see performances like that, you can feel very proud of it. There’s one thing to talk about it and another to go out and do it. We’ve ticked almost every box,” said Rohit in the post-match presentation.
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Axar Patel won the Player of the Match
Coming back to the match, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube put up an absolute carnage on display smashing Afghan bowlers all over the park. Jaiswal scored a quick-fire 68 (34) with the help of five fours and six sixes while Dube scored 63* (32) clobbering five fours and four sixes.
However, it was Axar Patel who was awarded Player of the Match for his brilliant spell of 2/17 in four overs.