India vs Afghanistan Live Score, 2nd T20I: Jaiswal and Dube are making a mockery of the AFG bowling attack and the target of 173 that IND are chasing
India vs Afghanistan Live Score, 2nd T20I: Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube are making a mockery of the 173-run target that Afghanistan have set for India to chase. Jaiswal raced to his half-century in just 27 balls. Both him and Dube have sent the ball into the stands frequently. Rohit Sharma earlier fell for a golden duck but Virat Kohli then came out all guns blazing in his first T20I innings since November 2022. Kohli smashed 29 in 16 balls before falling in the sixth over. Dube and Jaiswal have since taken the Afghanistan bowlers to the cleaners.
Gulbadin Naib earlier powered the Afghanistan innings and a late push then helped them get to a score of 172. Naib 57 in 35 balls after being promoted to No.3 and Afghanistan then smashed 63 runs in the last five overs. Fazalhaq Farooqi then struck big early by getting captain Rohit Sharma out for a golden duck. However, Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal have ensured that India get off to a good start in the powerplay. India have earlier won the toss and chosen to bowl first. Captain Rohit Sharma confirmed that Kohli will play his first T20I in over a year and Jaiswal returns as well. Shubman Gill and Tilak Varma are sitting out. All eyes were on Rohit in the last match and all eyes will be on Kohli today. Although that is the case with almost all India games at most times, considering Kohli and Rohit are the two biggest names in Indian cricket at the moment, this time it is because the former captain is returning to T20I cricket after an absence of well over a year.
November 10, 2022 was the last time Kohli played a T20I game. It was also the last time Rohit played one until India’s previous game against Afghanistan at the freezing Mohali. Kohli was initially thought to return in the first game as well, but it was announced a few days before the start of this series that he would available only for the second and third games. It remains to be seen who gets the drop to fit Kohli and where the former India captain will bat. However, dropping Shubman Gill for accomadating Kohli at No.3 if Yashasvi Jaiswal is available today might just raise a few eyebrows, apart from possibly leaving the 24-year-old with a storm of emotions to deal with. Gill was pretty much the reason why Rohit scored a duck in the first game thanks to a disastrous mix-up that ran the Indian captain out. A furious Rohit made his displeasure with Gill known right there in the middle for all to see as well.
It hence seems far more likely that Tilak Varma could be given the drop, although that would also mean playing either Jaiswal or Gill, both top order batters, at No.4. Varma had made an excellent start to his T20I career last year, making 39, 51 and 49 not out against the West Indies in an away three-match series.
But since then, Varma has tapered off. The next 13 innings have produced only one more fifty, against a below par Bangladesh in the Asian Games, with three 20-plus scores and one 30-plus knock dominating the rest of the outings. Those numbers are certainly not enough for the 21-year-old to land inside the larger scheme of things, and the effort to turn him into a part-time off-spinner too seemed to be having a feeble life.
– Gulbadin Naib smashed a half-century in 28 balls
– Gulbadin’s half-century kept Afghanistan floating in the first 10 overs despite losing three wickets
– Rohit Sharma won the toss and India bowl first
– Virat Kohli is playing his first T20I in over a year
– Yashasvi Jaiswal returns to the squad
– Shubman Gill and Tilak Varma are sitting out
– India are leading the series 1-0