Dharamsala, Jun 14 (PTI) Rahmanullah Gurbaz made a high quality 102 off just 51 balls while pacer Gurnoor Brar was impressive on debut India bowled out Afghanistan for 194 in a rain-curtailed first ODI here on Saturday.
Persistent showers delayed the start by more four and 15 minutes but not much time was lost once the skies cleared up, thanks to the recently installed subair drainage system here. The game was reduced to 25-overs-a-side with India expectedly putting the opposition in to bat.
Gurbaz, a proven performer in T20 cricket, came out to bat in the shortened game with a clear mindset, something he attributed to rival coach Gautam Gambhir’s tips after the one-off Test in Mullanpur. For the record, Gurbaz was an important member of the KKR
side that won IPL in 2024.
“After the Test match, I went to Gautam Gambhir sir and told him that I want to improve my shot selection. His tips helped to score against India today. A century against India in India doesn’t come easy,” Gurbaz told broadcasters at the break.
The ball was doing a bit in the air early on but Gurbaz went on the offensive from the word go, cutting Arshdeep for a four before stepping out to dispatch the left-arm pacer down the ground for a maximum.
The 6 feet 5 inch tall Brar (3/27 in 4.5 overs), who had been a net bowler with the Indian team for a long time prior to getting his ODI cap from captain Shubman Gill on Saturday, consistently clocked 145kmph plus in his first over and got the ball to shape away.
His first couple of balls swung away from a full length before pulled his length back to induce an error from opener Ibrahim Zadran who mistimed his aerial hit to be caught at mid-off, giving the Punjab fast bowler instant success in international cricket.
Afghanistan were reduced to 16 for two when Arshdeep had Sediqullah Atal trapped in front off a ball that did not do much. It became 26 for three when Rahmat Shah mistimed his pull off Arshdeep to be caught by another debutant Harsh Dubey running backwards from his mid-wicket position.
Gurbaz would have been adjudged leg before on 14 but Arshdeep and India decided against taking a review.
That was all the luck Gurbaz needed to play a memorable knock. His ninth ODI hundred included eight fours and as many sixes.
He put the bowlers including debutant left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey (3/47 in 5 overs) under pressure with his aggressive strokeplay. Dubey’s first two overs went for 26 runs with Gurbaz punishing his two short balls for a maximum over mid-wicket.
Gurbaz also dispatched a short ball from Brar for maximum while punishing the likes of Prasidh Krishna and Washington Sundar with disdain. However Nitish Kumar Reddy (2/31) bowled steadily and also got a couple of wickets.
Gurbaz’s dismissal in the 16th over slowed down the run rate and Afghanistan were not able to maximise on the platform provided by the opener.
Dubey did manage to get into the wickets column in his second spell by removing Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (27 off 30), the explosive all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai (26 off 16) and AM Ghazanfar.
Ghazanfar’s wicket came courtesy a moment of on field brilliance from Gill, who took a sensational one handed air-borne catch to his left to get rid of Ghazanfar, who got a thickish edge due to extra bounce that Dubey extracted from the surface. PTI KHS BS KHS
