Match Report: Afghanistan surprise India with a challenge

The build-up

After spending a week driving across various parts of UK and having watched Kane Williamson push NZ over the line versus South Africa - I was ready to take the train down to Southampton to see India take on Afghanistan.

If you haven’t been following the World Cup - India, the team with the 2nd best W/L (marginally behind England) in ODIs since 2018 had won 3 out of the 4 games with 1 game rained out. The three wins had come against South Africa, Australia and Pakistan and with relative ease.

Afghanistan on the other hand, playing their first World Cup had lost all games so far and their best spinner had just conceded 100+ in his 10 overs of the last match versus hosts England. This was in all likeliness going to be a one-sided contest and that is exactly why we had thought of an option of leaving early (3-4PM) to get some extra time in London.

While we were waiting in line to get into the stadium with a sea of Indian fans - we heard the roar from inside and found out about the toss. My first thought at this point was that India should aim to get 270-300 and then rattle the opposition out quickly. Afghanistan had different plans though.

The 1st innings

Mujeeb Ul-Rehman started the bowling for them as he often does and cleaned up in-form Rohit Sharma. Skipper Virat Kohli joined rusty KL Rahul in the middle and looked in complete control from ball one. Every time he employed pulled the ball, it went straight to the carpet and bounced within the 30 yard circle. He knew exactly which balls to leave and which ones to guide to third man. First ball from Rashid Khan was driven to cover boundary with typical Kohli elegance.

Easy on the eyes as always and making it look like a walk in the park. There is no doubting Kohli’s genius - he is an incredible batsman and makes any team’s ODI XI. So we all thought this was business as usual for the World #1. In reality, I only realized the quality of that knock when I looked at how the other batsmen faired on that pitch (with the exception of Mohammed Nabi - everyone struggled to score freely).

Rahul and Shankar, at the other end, got in and batted sensibly until they played a horizontal bat shot that brought about their dismissals. It was a solid opportunity for both to bat long and make Indian fans feel assured about those two positions. Veteran MS Dhoni walked in to the biggest cheer so far and India need to put up a partnership badly.

Not too long after this, against the run of play Nabi picked up the price wicket of Virat Kohli. As Kedar Jadhav and MS Dhoni tried to get used to the pace of the pitch, spinners kept bowling tightly and didn’t let pressure off India. The consistency of Rashid Khan, Nabi as well as Mujeeb was not surprising but considering how they fared versus England in the last match - this was a great comeback and shows their mental toughness.

Yet, the real surprise in my opinion was Rahmat Shah. His 5 overs kept Kedar and MS in check and I would be disappointed if we didn’t get to see him bowl more often. Even at the 40-over mark, we were hoping India would find a way to accelerate and get to 250. That acceleration never really came and India scored only 49 in the last 10 overs and posted their lowest total since 2010 for ODIs where they batted all 50 overs.

Fan morale during the innings break

People sitting around me at the game were also Indian supporters and it wasn’t hard to develop a rapport. Talking to them during the break, it was clear - many of them were nervous (I definitely was) but most still believed we would win this. The morale among my friends and family was similar. This is definitely an impact of this team’s consistency and quality.

A few years ago, watching the QF and SF of 2011 World Cup (Australia made 260 in QF and India scored the same in the SF) and chatting with fans around me during the innings break - it was obvious that most fans didn’t feel confident about our chances and most of them were pessimistic. This is certainly not the case anymore. Yes - India was playing Afghanistan, but today’s Indian team is extremely professional and the scars of the 90s have been forgotten.

The 2nd innings

Shami started the proceedings for India and bowled a tidy first spell. The wicket of Hazrat really got the fans going, although skipper Naib was batting sensibly. When Pandya picked up the second wicket, I hoped India will pick up another one quickly. But Rahmat Shah batted well and kept rotating the strike.

Indian spinners had been introduced and while they weren’t giving easy opportunities to score, ones and twos kept coming. At 60/2, our body language started to look a little flat and India allowed an extra run on a couple of occasions. All the fans in the stands were very nervous and I was even tempted to place a bet on Afghanistan using BetFair.

On multiple occasions, I saw Virat Kohli walk up to MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma to share his thoughts or get some advice. For the most part, I saw Rohit nodding or adding a few words except for one occasion where it seemed like he wasn’t very convinced. Afghan batsmen kept piling the runs and at 100/2 they were surely the favorites.

A collapse was needed and it was a good move to bring back our strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah. With Chahal completing a tough catch and Bumrah getting the other set batsman in the same over, India ensured that the door didn’t close on them. I was surprised by how much Pandya was bowled in these middle overs. For the most part, he did a good job by sticking to a good line and length - but with Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Shankar in the XI and the slow nature of the pitch, I would certainly have tried Jadhav even if it was only for 1-2 overs.

Chahal and Kuldeep bowled well and kept things tight even when their batters were putting together a partnership. Chahal responded brilliantly even when Rashid Khan reverse swept him for four and in my mind, was a contender for Player of the Match. Shami though, unfortunately leaked a few runs in the middle overs where he drifted on the pads on a couple of occasions. After 40 overs, Afghanistan needed just 68 runs and still had Nabi at the crease.

What worked in India’s favor though was that their 5th bowler had bowled out and they could rely on the best 4 to limit the runs and get some wickets. Even though Afghanistan kept the ball-run difference similar almost till the end - scoring 32 off the last 4 overs against Bumrah and Shami wasn’t going to be easy. We conceded only 16 in the next 3 overs and that’s where we won the game. Even though Nabi could have still scored 16 off the last over - it seemed like a tough ask and Shami got his length right.

Looking forward

From India’s perspective - KL Rahul has a fifty and also got start in this match, but will need to make sure he capitalizes on the starts he gets. Since he has been taking a bit longer to get going, it is important he makes up for it after - specially in big chases.

It’s unlikely that Vijay Shankar will be dropped after getting a start, but if India’s doesn’t plan to use his bowling - I would be tempted to get Pant in his place. This is specially true for flat pitches where scoring quickly is a necessity. Both Rahul and MS Dhoni have been batting at a slower pace and having someone (other than Pandya) to counter that would be useful.

The only other decision that Kohli and co will have to make at some point is to pick Bhuvi or Shami - once the prior is fit and ready to go. If Bhuvi is 100% fit, he comes back in my XI right away.