India recorded an easy six-wicket win in the second T20I against Afghanistan to clinch the three-match series on Sunday, January 14. Arshdeep Singh shone with three wickets to bowl out Afghanistan on 172 runs and then fiery fifties from Yashasvi Jasiwal and Shivam Dube guided India to a dominating win at Indore’s Holkar Cricket Stadium.
Virat Kohli returned to T20I actions after a gap of 14 months as India won the toss again and elected to bowl first. Young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal replaced Shubman Gill and Kohli came in for Tilak Varma. Afghanistan replaced veteran Rahmat Shah with young spin all-rounder Noor Ahmad in the only change.
Afghanistan lost openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran in powerplay overs but a fifty from Gulabdin Naib kept the scoreboard moving. Afghanistan batters kept losing wickets trying to find quick runs as Indian bowlers made a good comeback to restrict them to a total of 172 for 10 in 20 overs.
Arshdeep Singh took three wickets for 32 while Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi shone with two wickets each. Naib top-scored with 57 off just 35 balls for Afghanistan but Gurbaz and Zadran’s poor form continued.
Chasing a tough target, India lost captain Rohit Sharma on a golden duck in the very first over with Fazalhaq Farooqi getting a wicket. But the returning duo of Kohli and Jaiswal quickly added 57 runs for the second wicket to give India early control.
Kohli showed great aggression by smashing 29 off just 16 balls with the help of five fours. Naveen-ul-Haq ended Kohli’s fiery innings in the sixth over but it made no impact on India’s momentum. Shivam Dube and Jaiswal kept the banging on by adding match-defining 94 runs for the third wicket.
Jaiswal top-scored with 68 off 34 balls before losing his wicket to Karim Janat but Dube remained unbeaten on 63 off 32 to see India through to a six-wicket win in just 15.4 overs.
Afghanistan Playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar
