India has climbed to the upper echelons of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 standings, securing an impressive eight-wicket triumph against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Rohit Sharma, the Indian skipper, was the star of the show, achieving a record-breaking century.
The Indian team effortlessly reached their target of 273 runs with a remarkable 15 overs to spare, with Rohit Sharma rewriting cricket history.
His seventh Cricket World Cup century not only surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record of six but also made him the joint-fastest player, alongside David Warner, to reach 1000 Cricket World Cup runs in terms of innings batted (19).
Rohit Sharma, opening the batting, blazed his way to 131 runs from just 84 balls, smashing 21 boundaries, leaving Afghanistan’s Hashmatullah Shahidi struggling to find a solution.
This remarkable feat marked the fastest century by an Indian cricketer in Cricket World Cup history, surpassing Kapil Dev’s record of reaching a century in 72 balls against Zimbabwe in 1983.
Rohit’s exceptional innings came to an end at the hands of Rashid Khan, who also took Afghanistan’s other wicket. However, India easily achieved their target, with Virat Kohli (55) and Shreyas Iyer (25) ensuring a victory that greatly improved their net run rate.
India made a blazing start to their chase, with Rohit Sharma reaching his century in the 18th over, clearly aiming to finish the game early. Afghanistan struggled to find answers, relying primarily on Rashid Khan, who entered the attack late by his usual standards.
After a cautious start, Rohit unleashed his aggression, hitting a boundary off Fazalhaq Farooqi and never looking back. In the eighth over, he reached his half-century in just 30 balls and hit his third six, bringing his tally to 554 international sixes, surpassing Chris Gayle.
India’s run rate was already close to nine and a half by the end of the first Powerplay. Rohit reached 76, while his partner, Ishan Kishan, remained unbeaten on 11.
Earlier in the day, Afghanistan’s skipper, Hashmatullah, won the toss and chose to bat first in Delhi. Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, expressed his willingness to field, taking into account the dew factor and his belief that the pitch wouldn’t pose any additional challenges for the batsmen.
Afghanistan’s innings faced obstacles, managing to score only 61 runs in the final 10 overs, which was similar to their middle-over performance, largely due to Shahidi and Azmat Omarzai’s 121-run partnership.
Despite losing Azmatullah Omarzai for 62, Shahidi led Afghanistan past the 200-run mark within 40 overs, but wickets tumbled as they attempted to accelerate.
Following the quick dismissals of Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan displayed his skills in the death overs with a flurry of boundaries but was eventually dismissed in the 49th over by Jasprit Bumrah, who claimed his fourth wicket.
India’s spinners slowed down Afghanistan’s scoring rate. In the 25th over, Omarzai hit two sixes against Kuldeep Yadav to provide some momentum.
While Afghanistan stuck with the same XI from their match against Bangladesh in Dharamsala, India made one change, bringing in Shardul in place of Ravichandran Ashwin.
As per the Cricket World Cup points table, India currently occupies the fourth position, while Afghanistan stands at ninth.
READ MORE: Pakistan’s Historic ICC World Cup Win Over Sri Lanka
