India vs Afghanistan, World Cup 2023: Of dot balls, destruction and drama

India vs Afghanistan in the national capital Delhi, on a flat pitch that looked like it was made of concrete, and amid fans drenched in cricket fervour, it’s a bet, you wanted the Men in Blue to bat first and light up the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, a rather nondescript tournament so far, with some batting fireworks.

But even though Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bat first on a pitch that mirrored a highway, India ended up producing a match that not only breathed more life into the World Cup but also emboldened the belief of the local fans that “it’s coming home”.

Not surprisingly, it all started with Jasprit Bumrah.

Just two months back, Team India management and fans were fretting over the fitness of their most prized possession. And now we have the ‘Boom Boom’ back doing what he does best — choking the opposition with his dot balls and inflicting more misery with his wickets.

Dot balls

If captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and Afghanistan’s plan was to put India under pressure with a mammoth score on a pitch where 754 runs were scored last weekend, they were unfortunate that they hit the Bumrah wall.

The right-arm pacer started with nine straight dot balls in his first first nine legal deliveries. In his first four-over spell, Bumrah bowled a total of 19 dot balls.

His figures after the first four overs read 1/9. Ibrahim Zadran became his first victim, trying to poke at a length ball that nipped away just a little. At the same stage, Mohammed Siraj’s figures were 0/28 from four overs.

Bumrah returned in the middle overs for a three-over spell in which he gave away 12 runs with 10 dot balls and without any success. His best, however, came in the death overs when he returned to bowl three overs for three wickets and 18 runs, dismissing Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, and Rashid Khan and ending Afghanistan’s hopes of reaching the par score.

Indian fast bowlers vs Afghanistan today:

Bumrah – 4/39, Eco 3.90, 68.33% Dot balls

Siraj + Pandya + Shardul – 3/150, Eco 6.81, 50.75% Dot balls #INDvAFG #icccricketworldcup2023

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) October 11, 2023

Bumrah finished with an economy rate of 3.90 on a pitch where India chased down the 273-run target in just 35 overs. Siraj meanwhile had an economy of 8.40. Hardik Pandya gave away runs at 6.10 and Shardul Thakur at 5.20.

The fact that made Bumrah so lethal on the pitch suited for batters was his immaculate control which has been the cornerstone of his bowling all this while. On a flat track, Bumrah bowled more than 75% of his deliveries between the eight-metre and six-metre mark. A length so annoying that you can’t attack and it was this frustration that also fetched the pacer his best World Cup figures.

Destruction

With Afghanistan restricted to 272/8, India knew they had to chase an under-par target and captain Rohit Sharma decided to turn it into a nets session. It is rude to label the innings of an international game as a nets session but the bowling from the Afghans Atalan was dismantled in such a fashion by the India captain that it didn’t look any different.

Rohit showed no mercy to the bowlers as he scored his runs with a ‘Hitman’ like precision. After a six-ball duck against Australia, the India skipper smashed 131 off 84 balls with his century coming in just 63 balls — the fastest for India in ODI World Cups.

From this in 2011, to becoming the highest ever century maker in World Cup History , scoring 7 hundreds in just 2 World Cups plus 2 matches, just proves again that “Never ever give up” and that Champions find a way to live their dream. #RohitSharma #INDvsAFG pic.twitter.com/o6gJxrhvk2

— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) October 11, 2023

Rohit now also has seven centuries in ODI World Cups — the most in the history of the tournament.

During his knock, the 36-year-old smashed five sixes taking his tally to 556 across three formats, surpassing the world record by West Indies legend Chris Gayle.

Drama

Despite the captain’s record-breaking knock which set the tone for India in the chase, the supporting cast of Virat Kohli (55 not out) and Shreyas Iyer (25 not out) were called upon to finish the job. Kohli’s stay in the middle also witnessed the star batter and Afghan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq bring to end to their feud that began in IPL 2023.

However, before the two players decided to call a truce, Naveen was bombarded with “Kohli, Kohli” chants by the vociferous crowd at the Arun Jaitley Stadium when he came into bat in the first innings.

Since their spat in the IPL game, Naveen had been taking a dig at Kohli on social media, but on Wednesday he decided to exchange a handshake with one of the best batters of this generation who was playing at his home ground, as both players patted one another, signalling the end of the dispute.

Virat